Unforeseen Consequences
by Animus of Masada
Summary: Sometimes, even geniuses can be shocked by the consequences of their actions. Orochimaru didn't expect his jutsu to truly revive Minato and Kushina, but the Death God is not so easily understood. Rewrite of FDCL. Minato and Kushina alive.
1. In The Moment

A/N: This is a rewrite of From the Darkness Came the Light (FDCL). The original was well-received, but eventually I reached a point where it just felt..._off_. It didn't feel realistic, nor did I feel like I was writing it well. The tone and approach felt wrong, which made writing it impossible.

Then a LOT of real life crap got in the way (and still is, though to a lesser extent now), and...I left it, dead in the water. Recently, though, I became interested again and felt like this time, I could write it properly...or at least give it a shot.

That, and you guys never let me forget about how much you wanted it :)

Note that this is my third in-progress, non-hiatus'd story, so don't expect fast updates. I will, however, try to not leave you guys hanging too long, and your reviews do remind me to make this a priority.

**EDIT: I made some changes to the first chapter and replaced it. **I had some issues with it. Hopefully it won't happen again. Second chapter is currently in progress.

Without further ado, I present the first chapter of:

Unforeseen Consequences

**Chapter 1: In the Moment**

In a world of shinobi, it was strange to see honor amongst enemies. It was perhaps fitting, then, that this situation merely _appeared_ to be an enforced duel without interference.

The ANBU Captain stared through the purple barrier at what would soon become a battle between legends.

He had no idea how correct he was.

* * *

Teacher and Student looked at each other with mirroring feelings.

One was held back by regret, guilt, and sadness. He was reluctant to make the first move, despite time not being on his side in more ways than one.

One was driven forward by revenge, satisfaction, and glee. His first move was a knife straight through the heart.

Neither of them took a step closer to each other. No threat was made.

And for a few moments longer, Teacher and Student were both taken back to old, far off memories.

Memories of compassion, sadness, and confusion.

One was surprised by the coffins rising from the ground.

One was startled by how different two of his summons felt. As far as he knew, that _shouldn't happen_.

But it was too late for either of them to stop what was happening. Five coffins had risen from the ground.

Two of them burst open immediately. Yellow and Red stumbled under the bright sun, purple _but not solid_ walls, and over the slanted rooftop. Their confusion and vulnerability were obvious.

Teacher and Student watched the same event unfold.

One was too confused at this _impossibility_ to react in time.

One was snapped into action by realization.

Yellow and Red recognized the nearly indescribable _pull _of a summon to its summoner from someone behind them, but were too dazed to do something about it.

Teacher was not.

Student was able to gather his wits in time to attack Teacher before he could free Red, too.

Student neared Teacher, fist raised.

Yellow clumsily slammed into Student, and Teacher freed Red.

For the first time in many years, Teacher, Student, Yellow, and Red were together again.

As Yellow rolled away, Student raced towards First, Second, And Matriarch to implant the seals.

First and Second were forced into the fray.

Teacher had expected that.

He hadn't expected Matriarch to be here, too.

He should have known better. He _did_ know better.

He just didn't want to believe he could be right.

* * *

Minato Namikaze was disoriented and _extremely_ confused. That was before he decided to haphazardly throw himself at Orochimaru.

Only his experience and skill allowed him to get back on his feet within a few seconds.

He subconsciously prioritized information coming in through his senses.

Orochimaru. Sarutobi. _Kushina_. Biwako. Enma.

And, inexplicably, the First and Second Hokages.

A rooftop…Konoha.

The purple barrier that isolated this fight from all other events. He wasn't sure who would want that to happen, so he pushed that information aside for the moment.

Of all of the people around him, Orochimaru was the only one Minato was _sure_ to be hostile.

Observe. Prioritize. Analyze. _React_.

Orochimaru hadn't been expecting Minato to be capable of attacking so soon. Unfortunately, the sound and chakra of a Rasengan (he wasn't sure if he was even wearing a weapon holster) would have tipped the Snake Sannin off, so he settled for a straight up punch instead.

It connected with a satisfying _thump._

A quick glance to his right—First and Second were attacking Third. Subconsciously interpreting little details—the First and Second looked _off_ somehow, while the Third looked old and stern, but not _harsh_ like the other two—he decided that First and Second were hostile.

So had Kushina, apparently, as red chakra chains burst from her body and lanced towards them. The First managed to dodge, but the Second's leg was caught.

The Second was already forming seals in preparation for a technique.

_"Minato!"_

The voice shook him out of his musings as he turned towards its source—Biwako. Her fist was already on a path towards his head.

He moved his head to the side slightly as he moved into her attack. His right hand snatched her right wrist, while his left formed a fist and punched _hard_ into her elbow.

The audible crunches of broken bones filled his ears as his right leg kicked up into her kneecap.

More crunches.

He released her and regained his footing , coming around to face Orochimaru. The entire maneuver lasted littler more than a second, but a second in a fight like this was everything.

Four white snakes shot from Orochimaru's sleeve, fangs bared.

He flickered around the attack, prepping a Rasengan in his hand.

Orochimaru was ready, a wind technique—_wide area of effect, blunt force_—bursting from his other hand.

Minato pumped chakra into his Rasengan and shifted it in front of him, cutting into the wind and reducing the effect it would otherwise have.

The Snake Sannin dropped back at an almost inhuman angle, smiling as Minato's Rasengan hit mere air. His leg came up fast, knocking Minato's arm away. Four snakes were flying towards him, inches away…

And then he was over a dozen feet away, beside the Bloody Habanero. A small degree of comfort reached his heart as he realized the Hiraishin seal he planted on Kushina was still there, despite the circumstances of this situation.

He allowed himself to glance down at his equipment. All of his weapon holsters were attached and full. Glancing back up, he saw that the Second had broken free of the chakra chain, and the Third had retreated towards Kushina.

Both sides were utterly confused, and seemed to welcome the odd reprieve.

"Orochimaru has used Impure World Ressurection on the five of you," Hiruzen spoke. His voice was significantly wearier and more gravelly than Minato remembered. "I don't know why, but the technique worked differently on you two. I managed to remove the bond between you and your summoner, but I know nothing else about your…situation."

Minato nodded as he accepted the information in a way that only a seasoned and level-headed veteran could. "I assume we are in Konoha."

"Yes," Hiruzen answered. "The village is under attack. I am confident in our forces, but we should deal with Orochimaru sooner rather than later."

"What about the barrier?" Both of the men turned towards Kushina, who had a strange, hard look that seemed out of place on her features.

"We'd be better off if it were down," Hiruzen admitted. "Though it does help minimize the damage of this fight."

"Then I have an idea," Minato said. He drew one of his special three-pronged Hiraishin kunai and threw it a few inches from where the rooftop met the barrier. "Grab on."

Hiruzen and Kushina did as they were told, while Orochimaru suddenly raced towards them. _Too late_, Minato thought before teleporting them just outside the barrier.

"Hokage-sama!" the ANBU Captain yelled, immediately coming to their side. "Are they…?"

Somehow, Hiruzen could see the confusion on the Captain's face, despite it being covered by a mask. "On our side. The rest is unimportant at the moment." The message was clear, and the Captain promptly began forming seals.

On Orochimaru's angry command, the purple barrier dropped, and The Sound Four joined his side. Unfortunately for them, so had many Konoha jonin. For the moment, neither side moved, waiting for a cue from their respective leaders.

"Orochimaru has used a forbidden technique to bring back the dead as servants," Hiruzen announced. "The Forth and the kunoichi you see here are on our side. As for the rest…do not let looks fool you. This is the only mercy we can show them."

Biwako had managed to limp back into line. Her face was nearly expressionless. The technical part of his mind knew that that was a result of the strict talismans Orochimaru had used with the technique—sacrifice personality and skill for the sake of tighter control. Hiruzen tried not to let the face of his late wife affect him, but it was like trying to move a mountain. He was fortunate that the unexpected presence of Minato and Kushina distracted him.

An odd, almost unnatural sound reached his ears. Recognizing the effects of Orochimaru's curse seal, he witnessed each of the Sound Four transform into less human—but obviously stronger—forms. A sudden bulge appeared at Orochimaru's stomach, until a _sword_ extended out of his mouth. Casually gripping it with a hand, the Snake Sannin rushed forward, and the battle began anew.

Jirobo, the largest of the Sound Four, was the only one who matched his leader's direct charge. A swing from Enma's staff form crashed into Jirobo's side, sending him off the rooftop, but Orochimaru kept coming.

A torrent of water spewed from the Second's mouth, forming itself into a missile before careening towards Konoha's gathered elite. Kakashi rushed forward with an ANBU operative to counter. Under the provided cover, Minato rushed forward, Rasengan in hand.

Orochimaru was well aware of the Forth Hokage's legendary speed, and managed to dodge the attack with his snake-like flexibility. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem with that.

It was exactly what Minato had been counting on.

Minato disappeared for the briefest of moments, reappearing a few feet to the right, and an inch above Orochimaru. The swirling blue ball of chakra slammed into his opponent, grinding bones and tissue alike with disturbing ease.

But the Snake Sannin, true to form, sank into the ground and disappeared from view. Before Minato could attempt to locate him, spears of wood erupted from the ground, forcing him to evade. For the moment, he had another, possibly even more dangerous foe to worry about.

* * *

Kushina had made the decision to act purely in the moment and forgo any emotions or questions she had beyond it. If she hadn't, she would be going crazy with worry.

Her heart lept at seeing Minato _alive_, and she felt fine herself. But that didn't _make any sense_. It was the middle of day—not night like when they'd (supposedly?) died—and the Third looked noticeably older.

So she guessed that time had passed since her most recent memory. She wasn't sure what that meant, but every outcome both scared and relieved her, all at once.

But she couldn't deal with that right now—_slice of water racing towards her_—because she had a fight to win.

A fight with the Second Hokage, no less. She wondered if she was supposed to feel afraid, but the insanity of the situation stifled fear.

She settled for punching him in the face.

Her half-dozen shadow clones were too much for this…_imitation_ of a legend. He was not the awe-inspiring Hokage that could win large battles singlehandedly. He moved sluggishly, stupidly, as if he was under a trance. He used little, if any, strategy.

She tried not to recognize the question poking her in the back of her mind: was _she_ an imitation, as well?

A fight like this was too crowded and confined for anyone to go all out. It was more like massive melee, where a threat could come from any angle—but so could an ally, so one had to be careful about what one used in battle. Speed and precision was key.

Not that outnumbering your opponent seven-to-one didn't help, either. Her own personal army alternated between chakra-chain based barriers and multi-pronged attacks, often accompanied by streams of fire that matched her hair in color.

With occasional assistance from an ally passing through the fight, she was able to surround him and attack his blind sides with ease.

Charka chains pierced the Second and wrapped around him. Unable to move and on the verge of death (if death even applied in such a situation), he was an easy target for a sealing jutsu.

A few seconds later, his body was separated into a dozen parts, each transported a mile away to random locations, where they would be incinerated.

She knew that if the _real_ Second Hokage had been her opponent, she wouldn't have ever gained the upper hand. The imitation had power, but it only had the intelligence of a drone...like a puppet without a puppet master.

From there, the fight became increasingly one-sided. Orochimaru realized his inevitable defeat in such a situation, and bid a hasty retreat.

That, too, fell right into Minato's plan. The chaos of the battle gave him plenty of opportunity to place his Hiraishin-engraved kunai around the perimeter. Orochimaru, like the rest of the Sound Four, hadn't noticed.

If he had, he might have avoided the Rasengan that was barreling towards his head from behind.

No kawarimi took place. No illusion was detected. The man who had abandoned everything he once cared about for personal gain lay headless, and most certainly dead.

For nearly a minute, Hiruzen looked almost like he was _grieving_, as ridiculous as the notion was. Perhaps he was remembering the person Orochimaru used to be, long ago? She didn't know; she'd never been a sensei herself.

Kushina couldn't help but notice the looks the Third kept giving her and Minato in the minute after that. Finally, she couldn't hold her question in. "What?"

"I don't know how the First and Second died," Hiruzen replied simply, as if that explained everything. "But their remains were recovered. I do know how…Biwako died," he said, cringing visibly, "and I know how you two died."

Kushina cringed herself as the words sank in. Fresh memories—_Biwako keeling over, terror, NARUTO, mind-numbing pain, _death—boiled to the surface, and she couldn't hold them back.

She ignored the tears and tried to stay in the moment, difficult as it was.

"Since Orochimaru was surprised about the outcome of his technique, I am lead to believe something unique about you two caused the…difference."

"The Shinigami," Minato added, recalling what he believed was most likely the unique factor.

"Exactly," Hiruzen replied. "Since it had a significant impact on how you died, I assume that it was the reason you were different from the beginning when Orochimaru used his technique. And you aren't disappearing now…"

"I _feel_ fine," Minato answered, checking his pulse as he did so. His voice was unnervingly monotone and detached. "Heartbeat feels normal, same with body temperature." He drew a kunai and made a shallow cut on his arm. "Bleeding normally, too."

"Which would not happen with an Impure World Resurrection summon," Hiruzen offered automatically. A moment later, the implications hit him. "Then…you're…"

"Alive…" Minato whispered, as if he was afraid to acknowledge the idea. Before he could come to grips with the notion, he saw Kakashi, his long-time student unsteadily walk forward.

A loud crash broke the moment, and the mood. All of the occupants of the rooftop looked for the source of the noise.

It was rather difficult to miss, for in the distance stood a giant tanuki made of sand, and a colossal toad with a sword sheathed at its side.

* * *

Elsewhere, a snake shed its skin and emerged anew, far angrier than before.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, what do you think? I know it's short, but I wanted to get it out tonight (I won't have much time this week), and this felt like a decent place to stop.

Do you guys remember Biwako, by the way?

Also, I KNOW that Edo Tensei is presented differently here than it is in the manga. That's because of several reasons, not the least of which being that the technique, as it stands, is unbelievably powerful with the potential of easily bringing the world to its knees singlehandedly. The other big reason is the premise, which requires some differences from canon.

**EDIT: **I know Minato and Kushina come across as a little...limited in their jutsu choices, but this is mostly due to the type of fight/situation they're in. It's a chaotic knife-fight with friendlies and enemies mixed into a fray.

Once again, PLEASE do not bring up character pairings. They will not even be relevant for quite a while, and they will never be the focus of this story. No characters will be bashed, either.

**Please review! It makes my heart warm and puts me in the mood to write =)**


	2. Breaking Point

A/N: Sorry that this one is only 2100 words! It was a natural point to leave off at, and I hadn't really planned past that part in the story, so this would be more efficient. For now, at least.

I also made some changes to the first chapter due to things I and some reviewers disliked. You can go back and read it if you want, but the only major, plot-significant change is at the end.

Before I continue, I want to thank you guys for the incredible support you've given me so far. I was floored by the response, so thank you! While I do find it rather amusing/odd that some 200 people Favorited it, "only" 82 reviewed. I'm not complaining, but I did have to chuckle at that.

Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Breaking Point**

For most people, the sight of a legendary "boss" summon was a rare one indeed.

But the sight of a boss summon facing off against a bijuu—a tailed beast of immense power and size—was almost unheard of.

_Almost_, because it had happened once before, twelve years prior.

But for Minato and Kushina, it was a few minutes ago.

"Gamabunta?" Minato idly wondered, thinking of the same giant toad he had summoned for aid in the past.

"It seems Jiraiya-sama has taken on Suna's jinchuuriki," said the distinctive voice of Maito Gai, one of Konoha's most renowned jounin.

An ANBU agent landed on the rooftop, turning to the Third. "Hokage-sama! We have confirmed reports of a full retreat of the invading forces!"

Hiruzen regarded him with a nod, merely saying, "Good." Something else demanded his attention, in the form of the last remaining major threat to Konoha.

They watched in awe as the giants clashed, their maneuvers shaking the ground. Bullets of water, each the size of an apartment building, slammed with similarly-sized blasts of air.

The ANBU agent walked unsteadily towards Hiruzen, speaking up in a tone that held a hint of panic. "H-Hokage-sama...Jiraiya-sama was reported to be leading the defense at the Northeastern sector of the village...so who...?"

Hiruzen, along with everyone else on the rooftop, turned their heads to look at the ANBU agent, lines of confusion and worry etched into each of their faces. As if all following the same train of thought, they shifted their gazes to Gamabunta, hoping for answers.

They didn't have to wait long. Gamabunta charged at the One-Tail bijuu, until a large _pop_ filled the air along with a gigantic cloud of smoke. A giant red claw emerged from it, followed by a sight that had not plagued Konoha for a dozen years: the Kyuubi—the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

All who remembered that night felt their blood running cold and shivers down their spines.

Kushina's mind numbed, unable to process what she was seeing. For most of her life, she had lived with that beast sealed inside of her. It was a part of her identity, even among family—even to _her_.

Seeing it free and rampaging directly after Naruto's birth had been surreal and unsettling enough. Now, it was too much to deal with.

The Kyuubi look-a-like dug its claws and teeth into the bijuu and grappled it onto its knees. Moments later, another loud _pop_ sounded, and the menacing form of a legend was replaced with the noticeably less menacing form of Gamabunta.

"No way..." Kakashi whispered. Heads turned once again to face the source. "Jiraiya-sama offered Naruto the summoning contract?"

The sound of that name broke through everyone's confusion. Even Kushina was pulled back into the moment, the very familiar face of Kakashi forcing back the memories.

"You mean _Naruto_ summoned that toad?" said Genma, the proctor for the Chunin Exam Finals. His signature senbon was loosely hanging from his mouth. "He—but—but he completely exhausted himself fighting Neji!"

"It's definitely Naruto," Kakashi said, his voice resolute. "He's the only one who would do something like that." The confusion was completely gone from his face. He stepped forward to the edge of the rooftop before looking the Third in the eye. "We need to get there, _now_."

The roaring sound of colossal amounts of sand crashing to the forest below punctuated his suggestion impressively. Hiruzen nodded, stepping forward as well. "Minato, Kushina, you're with me. The rest of you, secure the village."

Kakashi met Minato's gaze with uncertainty. As much as they needed to sort this whole situation out, there was a more pressing matter that needed attending. "Later," he said, receiving a nod in turn. "Let's go."

Minato set the pace, which meant that the others were hard-pressed to keep up. He was unconsciously moving forward, letting muscle memory take over as his mind wandered.

_Naruto_. His _son_. His _baby boy_. The baby he had sealed a demon inside of.

The baby he had, however unwillingly, abandoned.

Between the guilt, the stress, and the confusion, his mind was a jumbled, overworked mess. Nearly all of his effort was put into pushing his feelings aside and react to the situation automatically.

He was only mostly succeeding.

* * *

When they had nearly reached their target, Minato called for them to stop just short of a small clearing. He enhanced his senses with chakra to a degree that most were incapable, allowing him to see and hear everything, in detail, with ease.

He identified his son almost immediately. That kind of hair tended to stand out, but the bright orange jumpsuit made missing him impossible.

He also saw the strangely dressed redhead laying a short distance away. The boy almost immediately began shouting in a pained, panicked voice.

"My existence will never be extinguished...it _won't_ be extinguished! I won't let it _disappear_!"

But the boy's yelling was clearly out of desperation. Minato knew that something about it all was _wrong_, but couldn't identify _how_.

Kushina could, all too easily. He was a jinchuuriki that was treated as a weapon instead of a person: the embodiment of one of her fears, a could-have-been that used to terrify her.

She was too shocked by that understanding to notice right away, like the others did. The other boy—_Naruto, my god...NARUTO—_was still moving towards the downed jinchuuriki.

Using, she noticed, _nothing but his chin_. Were it not for the surrealism of the entire situation, she would have been extremely impressed...and proud. But as it was, she could only notice the whisker marks on his chin, the blood on his forehead, and the way his face gradually contorted into a specific kind of pain.

But he _kept moving_. She couldn't understand why, or what getting closer to the other boy would accomplish. She didn't _understand_ what was _going o_—

A sudden cry interrupted everyone's thoughts. "_Don't come any closer!"_ His panic was clear now. It was not malice, but _fear_ that underlined the demand.

Naruto stopped his efforts at movement and brought his head up, tears falling from his eyes. "The hell of being alone...your feelings...do you know that I understand your pain? I could have been just like you..."

Kushina's already diminished ability to process and understand new information still managed to get the gist of the meaning through. It cut straight at her heart to see one of her worst fears made reality in her son—however much—chilled her to the bone.

"But..." Naruto's voice interrupted her thoughts. "I have people who are important to me now...and I _won't_ let you hurt them."

The look of sadness on his face was replaced by one of anger and ferocity—a look she was intimately familiar with. "It doesn't matter what you try..._I will stop you_."

She finally looked at the other boy, now seeing the complete, genuine shock on his face. "Why?" he whispered, as if the question was coming straight from the deepest parts of his heart. "Why do you go so far for the sake of others?"

Naruto settled into a more subdued, fatigued look. "Because they saved me from the hell of being alone. They acknowledged my existence...they _care_ about me. They would die for me...and I would die for them. My bonds with them are everything...they make life _mean_ something..."

The other boy's face very gradually shifted from shock to understanding. For the first time since Kushina saw him, he looked away from Naruto and stared blankly into the sky. "Love..." he whispered, his mind in far-off places.

A black blur leapt from the trees to Naruto's side. Seeing that he bore the crest of the Uchiha clan on his back, she relaxed. Still, she was very curious about the black marks covering half of his face.

"It's over, Naruto," he said. "Sakura's fine. This guy probably ran out of chakra a while ago. The sand holding her collapsed."

For the first time in her life, Kushina saw her son smile. "I...see..." he said, the exhaustion he obviously felt finally catching up with him. "Good..." With that, he promptly passed out.

Two more people jumped into the clearing, clearly taking defensive positions in front of the red-headed boy. Kushina tensed—despite her misgivings, she would kill them if they made one wrong move...

"Enough."

All eyes turned to the boy, confused. "It's over," he said, sounding almost tired. His eyes were still blankly gazing skyward. "There is no point to fighting them anymore."

One of the newcomers—a puppeteer, she realized—hesitantly pulled the boy's arm over his shoulder. "Okay, Gaara." The kunoichi next to him moved to do the same.

"Temari...Kankuro...I'm sorry." It seemed that the vague apology was the most shocking thing those two had ever heard in their lives, if the expressions on their faces were anything to go by.

A few moments of unusual silence later, Temari spoke. "I-It's alright. We'll get you home."

They turned to leave, but four new arrivals stopped them. Temari and Kankuro easily recognized the legendary Third Hokage, and didn't exactly bother trying to identify the rest.

Kushina might have found their expressions comical if the circumstances were different.

Kakashi was the first to speak. "Surrender and you won't be harmed."

Temari and Kankuro looked uneasily at each other, and then both at Gaara, before they seemed to reach some kind of decision. Temari unsteadily stepped in front of them, hand reaching towards the fan on her back...

"Wait!" the Third shouted, giving everyone pause. "This is unnecessary," he explained. "Suna was deceived into war by Orochimaru. He impersonated the Kazekage after assassinating him. I can explain the rest later."

Once again, Temari and Kankuro had looks of utter shock. "F-Father is...?"

Kushina's eyes widened in realization. They were siblings, all of them. Temari had been planning on sacrificing herself in an attempt to buy time for the rest of her siblings to escape.

"He is dead," Gaara said, as if he were simply bored.

"Your _father_ is the Kazekage?" Minato blurted. She could see his face contorting between horror, sadness, and guilt all at once.

"Yes," Gaara stated.

_Oh._ Kushina wanted to whack herself for not making the connection sooner—the Kazekage, their _father_, had allowed (she didn't even want to _think_ about the possibility of "encouraged") Gaara to be treated as a weapon. As something _less than human_.

An awkward silence settled over the group as they each sorted out the revelations themselves. None of them had figured out what to do yet.

She did. "Do you love him?" It was a simple question, but it was the most important one to ask.

Kankuro stared into Kushina's eyes, held captive by her hard, blazing gaze. "Yes," he answered with little hesitation. As much as they feared him, he was still their _brother_. And, importantly, someone who had no say in what he became. Temari nodded resolutely.

"Then take care of him," Kushina ordered. She tried to quell the tears and the pain in her chest at the irony of her words. "Don't ever let him be alone again."

They stared at her blankly, but she could tell they understood. "_Go_." They only hesitated briefly before complying.

She watched them go as they leapt into the trees. And then, with nothing to distract her, the mental barriers she had erected by necessity started to crumble. She turned around to face Naruto, who slept soundly on the ground. Tears were already spilling from her eyes as she knelt by him, and pulled him into a crushing hug. All of the stress, pain, fear, and confusion of the past hour of her life came pouring out in the form of uncontrolled sobs. It said a lot about how exhausted Naruto was that he didn't even come close to waking up.

Minato bowed his head, not bothering to keep the tears in check. Though he remained standing, he looked far worse than his wife. It was a quiet, resigned grief; his posture reminded Kakashi of a man who felt _cold_ in a way that weather could never produce.

To a much lesser extent, Kakashi felt the same way. Perhaps later, there would be time for joy and reunion. But right now, there was only grief and guilt...for _every_ adult in the clearing.

At some point, Sasuke had brought an unconscious Sakura back to the group, and Hiruzen examined Team 7 for injuries. He gave a nod to Kakashi and Sasuke to assure them that the two sleeping genin were alright and dismissed Enma from the scene.

A short time later, Sasuke pulled Kakashi to the side. Though Sasuke spoke at a whisper, it carried the tone of an exasperated shout. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

* * *

**A/N:** So, what did you think?

I tried to better convey Kushina and Minato's mental state in this chapter. In the past hour, from their perspective, they've been put through the wringer AND THEN SOME, and then they're brought into THIS situation. They're just trying to remain functional as long as they need to. And as you saw, once they didn't need to...well, hence the chapter title. I also want to reiterate that NO ONE who went after Naruto is in a position to think very clearly; it's too much to deal with, and they're just getting by.

No, I'm not going to angst the issue to death. But I AM trying to deal with the situation as realistically as possible-being brought back to life a dozen years after your death would be jarring and hard to deal with even under the best of circumstances.

By the way, am I the only one who thinks that Naruto trying to further defeat Gaara with nothing more than _pulling himself with his chin_ is one of the most awesome and heartwarming things he's done?

**Please review! Your response to last chapter really got me in the writing mood for this one.** I'm enjoying this to the point where I think I'll put chapter 3 up this weekend.


	3. Let Us Not Talk Falsely Now

A/N: You guys are awesome! I love reading through the reviews. You guys keep me thinking about this story.

Seriously, I'm floored. Thank you all =)

And by the way, ANBU shall NOT be treated as fodder in this story. Ever. The sole exception is if the person they're up against considers jounin-level shinobi fodder (duh).

Also, bonus points for whoever understands the whole meaning of this chapter title. And I mean the WHOLE meaning.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Let Us Not Talk Falsely Now**

It took several moments for Naruto to figure out that he was, to his dismay, in a hospital. He couldn't immediately recall _why_ he was there (he felt fine, after all), but the sight of "Sarutobi-jiji" refreshed his memory.

He had seen the purple barrier atop the stands. He remembered fearing that the man he thought of as a grandfather wouldn't survive the day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was only briefly surprised when Naruto lunged at him for a hug. He accepted the embrace warmly, remembering that Naruto was the _only_ one who hugged him these days. "I see that you're feeling better," he said with a small chuckle.

Naruto stepped back, smiling. "Is everyone...?"

"I don't think anyone you know was seriously hurt," Hiruzen said, quickly reassuring the boy. His lips pulled into a grin. "I heard about what happened, and how the genin of Konoha acted during the crisis." The surprised, almost hesitant look on Naruto's face seemed cute, oddly enough. "Shikamaru's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of Konoha, as were Shino's and Sasuke's."

To Hiruzen, Naruto's joyful smile at the praise of others—even his friendly rival's—was both surprising and heartwarming. "But _your_ actions yesterday were nothing short of remarkable. I am very proud of you."

In addition to looking extremely uncomfortable, Naruto actually blushed a deep red. Hiruzen knew the boy was unaccustomed to such praise, but such a strong reaction was unexpected. "However..." Naruto jerked back to attention, curious. "Your greatest achievements of yesterday were not from defeating your opponents, but from helping two people see a better path to live their lives."

Naruto seemed slightly confused, but he nodded. Experience told Hiruzen that the boy would work out the deeper meanings later. "There is one more thing I need to tell you. It is a very complicated matter, even for people like me." He paused, sighing at the inevitable mess (even if it was a great mess) that was about to start. "Do you remember what I told you about your parents, Naruto?"

Obviously caught off-guard by the unexpected topic, Naruto jerked his head back, face scrunched in confusion. "Erm, yeah. You told me that they were killed in the Kyuubi attack and that they loved me very much."

"Indeed," Hiruzen answered. "That is correct. And the other thing?"

Naruto knew that part extremely well. "That you couldn't tell me anything else. Just that there was a reason you couldn't tell me."

"Yes," Hiruzen continued, his tone becoming serious. "That part has changed."

Naruto's eyelids opened wide in surprise. _And anticipation_, Hiruzen realized. "Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki. You're actually quite like her."

Despite the lack of outward reaction, Naruto's mind was buzzing. He had always wondered...and now he had a name, at least. The similarity Hiruzen spoke of made his insides feel weird, though Naruto didn't consciously understand why.

"There is also something very important you need to know about her." The Third was dreading this part, because after this...there would be no going back. "She was the previous jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

_That_ got a definite outward reaction. The mind-numbing shock would be clearly understood, even to a child. "But...but..._what?_"

All in all, Hiruzen thought Naruto was handling it rather well. "If things went according to plan, she still would be the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Unfortunately, something happened the night you were born."

To Hiruzen's satisfaction, the further explanation seemed to be clearing the fog of shock, so he continued. "Your mother was attacked when her seal was at its weakest, and the Kyuubi was released just outside Konoha.

"The attack nearly killed her, but she used the last of her strength to protect you, and to help seal the Kyuubi away." This time, the Third remained silent to allow Naruto to absorb the information. Talking to an orphan about his parents' deaths was never easy, for either party.

As Hiruzen expected, Naruto broke eye contact and stared at the floor, his shoulders slumped and his mouth closed. It would have been an oddly contemplative expression for someone who used to leap to action without consideration for the consequences, but Hiruzen had adjusted his expectations of the boy after yesterday's events.

"But..." Naruto's voice was shaky and soft, but remarkably steady if one considered the circumstances. "I still don't understand...why me?"

Hiruzen could tell it was a driving question—one the boy had asked himself all the time after learning the truth about himself. "As far as I know, it was the only option." It was mostly true. In the years afterwards, he had thought of other possibilities, but in the chaos of that night...no one had much time to think things through. "Still," he added, "I _do_ know that your parents hoped that the power of the Kyuubi would help you, despite the difficulties you would face as a result. Yesterday's events have proven that hope to be true, wouldn't you agree?"

Naruto could only nod, remembering both of his fights that day. The Demon Fox's power had carried him to victory twice, and allowed him to protect the people and the village that he loved. But was it worth it?

Was all of the pain, the _hell_ of being alone and shunned worth it?

It was then that a rare moment of realization struck. If he couldn't protect the people he cared about, then they would die...and he would be alone anyway. It wasn't a matter of one or the other. It wasn't about life being fair or finding people to blame. His life was what it was, and he made the most of it. _That_ was the difference between him and Neji.

They had both been born into a life of hardship, but _he_ refused to let that stop him. He didn't care if the stupid fox had isolated him from almost everyone before. He had surpassed that. He had defied expectations. He had made friends and been acknowledged.

He wasn't alone. He wasn't shunned—the cheering crowds of the stadium had blasted that notion out of the water. He was stronger than the demons that plagued his past.

Blaming people wouldn't have achieved that. Spite, jealousy, hate—he had felt all of that in spades, but he rarely gave into those feelings. And now he stood, acknowledged by the Hokage, acknowledged by the village, and acknowledged by his toughest opponents.

_A better path_. Naruto truly understood that now, and what it meant. The road he was on was difficult, and he had to resist the temptation to lash out at everything that had wronged him. But in the end, it was completely worth it.

"They were right," he declared, voice steady and strong. "If it means that I can protect the people that I care about, it's worth all the pain." A confident, determined smile broke out on his face. "And if my mom could handle it, then, like, so can I!"

Hiruzen grinned at the declaration, pride and relief evident on his face. "You continue to impress—and dare I say, inspire—me. Your parents would be proud."

The reaction was noticeably less severe this time, to Hiruzen's pleasure. "I believe you are ready for the next piece of information about your parents: your father's name."

Naruto eagerly awaited this reveal with determined eyes and a smirk that usually preceded him thoroughly defeating his opponent.

Of course, it didn't last when the words, "Minato Namikaze," were spoken. He knew that name, for it was one of the few things he had committed to memory in the academy. It was the name of his hero, and the name of the person he would have to surpass.

But he never expected it to be the name of his _father_.

Sdjlkflksdjflks

Minato Namikaze stood on a small, familiar bridge that crossed a narrow stream. He'd never been there, but the place was well known in his son's memory.

Which was also now his, in a way. The idea came to him not long ago, after he had personally examined Naruto's seal and added the Hiraishin symbol to it. The chakra he and Kushina had placed into the seal were designed to watch over their son until the moment they were truly needed.

He'd never expected it to end up being used like _this_. As he now realized, it was both a blessing and a curse. He saw each of Naurto's triumphs and failures. He saw his son grow up...without him. Every memory of suffering and prejudice stung, like a needle through the heart, punctuating the undeniable statement: _You weren't there for him._

And it was true, he knew. Not when Naruto needed him, or when he wished he could have been there in the way that most parents were.

He stared blankly into the water, lost in thought, caught between guilt and apprehension. Hiruzen would be telling Naruto the truth about his parentage right about now, along with the truth of what happened on the night he was born.

Minato couldn't fathom how _meeting_ him would be like after that. Nothing would feel right. Even if he dropped down to his knees and begged Naruto for forgiveness, it wouldn't feel right either, because if he had the chance to face the choice of that dreadful night again, he would have made the same decision.

"You're moping."

He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "So?"

She settled next to him, leaning her forearms against the railing. "It's neither what he would want nor what would make him feel better." She let that sentence hang, giving Minato time to think in his own way.

It wasn't regret he felt, but guilt. "How do I apologize for an act I would repeat if given a chance to choose again?" He stared out into the distance now, no longer finding the water interesting.

She turned her head to look at him, eyebrows quirked in equal parts confusion and amusement. "That's not what you have to apologize for," she said gently. "We weren't there for him when he needed us, but it's not like we were given much choice in the matter."

Kushina saw him involuntarily wince at the memory. She figured he still blamed himself for all that went wrong that night, however unjustified those feelings were. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for him, and I _will_ apologize to him for that. But I'm not going to apologize for dying, Minato. And neither should you."

Minato's expression softened slightly, but he was still rather distant. His gaze fell back to the water as he leaned forward onto his arms, slumping. "Even if I made the right decision, I still failed him as a father."

"No, you didn't."

Finally, he turned to look at her, surprise evident on his face. "You had an unforeseeable situation thrown at you. You took a horrible set of circumstances and made the best decision you could." She reached out, cupping his chin with one of her hands. "And despite the terrible things that _have_ happened to Naruto, he may not be alive today if you had chosen differently. We'll never know. We just have to apologize and move on. Make the best of what we have."

She gave him a few moments to think it over (she always did find it cute how comprehension visibly progressed on his face) before giving him a light kiss.

"I love you," he whispered.

"You _better_."

The chuckle he gave in response was quiet and small, but it was _there_. She knew he was finally getting out of his irrationally dismal mood. "And besides," she added, smiling, "what better way to apologize than by being the best parents we can, starting now?"

He sighed lightly, his pose loosening into acceptance. "You're right." And then, as if the thought occurred to him for the first time, "Again."

"Like, damn right I am," she said.

His mood brightening, he snickered at her. "You two have the same verbal ticks. It's adorable." He followed that up with a brilliant smile as Kushina playfully hit him in the arm.

"I was, like, hoping he wouldn't!" Realizing that she was digging herself deeper, she settled for a less verbal comeback.

Sjdkflkdsjfdlksf

Hiruzen was surprised that Naruto was only shocked for a few moments before becoming pensive.

He was blown away when the boy smiled shortly after, laughing to himself. Of all the reactions he had anticipated, this most definitely had _not_ been one of them.

"That's so, like...what was that word Sakura-chan used? The opposite of what you expect?"

"Ironic?" Hiruzen offered, perplexed.

"Yeah! Ironic," Naruto said, his enthusiasm waning noticeably. "Who would have thought...?" Naruto's voice quieted as he said it, his shoulders slumping and his eyes drifting to the floor.

Hiruzen now understood that the boy was just trying to cope with the many different feelings about the revelation. If he had to guess, he would say that Naruto wasn't angry at his father, but more upset about the stark contrast between the village's attitude towards him and his father.

"Konoha has started to see you for what you truly are," the Third explained, "and that is all due to your efforts. People are already praising you for defending Konoha against Suna's jinchuuriki."

Naruto looked up, obviously surprised. "They are?"

"Indeed," Hiruzen said, smiling. "That was no small feat you accomplished, and many of Konoha's shinobi witnessed part of the fight. The story has spread very quickly." He paused, letting that sink in before continuing to his point. "Several ANBU have reported that you are a major topic of discussion amongst the villagers...and many of them expressed remorse for thinking badly of you."

He could tell that Naruto understood, but was too shocked to figure out something to say. "Your hard work has paid off, at long last."

Putting it in those terms resulted in the boy closing his gaping mouth and refocusing his eyes.

"I'm afraid I have one last thing to tell you, though it is good news." Naruto perked up, interested. "When the invasion started, I was forced to fight Orochimaru alone." Hiruzen had to stifle a laugh at the boy's widened eyebrows and fearful expression—it was as cute as it was predictable.

"At the beginning of the fight, he used a dangerous, forbidden technique. One that requires a living human sacrifice to even have a chance at success." To his satisfaction, Naruto's expression hardened, as if the very idea of a living human sacrifice repulsed him. "The technique is designed to bring back the dead as slaves, forced to fight according to their summoner's will."

If he was repulsed before, Naruto was _furious_ now. There was no greater disrespect to the dead in his mind. "I know, and I feel the same way," Hiruzen said, seeing Naruto's expression. "Orochimaru used the technique to bring back the other three Hokages, as well as your mother."

Naruto looked as if he had been slapped in the face, and was too shocked to be angry. Seeing his opportunity to curtail unnecessary anger, Hiruzen continued. "However, the technique did not work as planned. Two of the summons—your parents—were not brought back as slaves, nor were they chakra-based constructs like the others."

Hiruzen's heart sped up in anticipation and apprehension. This was it. "I assume that happened because of the unique circumstances of their deaths. You remember that they used a special technique to seal the Kyuubi away, into you?"

Naruto, who had taken a seat at the edge of his bed, looked caught between confusion and eagerness. "Yeah?"

"It is a powerful sealing technique which costs the user his or her life. Minato—and by extension, Kushina—used it, as I said, to seal the Kyuubi into you. But they also used it to put their last remaining chakra into you as well. In doing so, they would watch over you until the time when you needed them most. Do you understand, so far?"

"I, uh...I think so," Naruto answered.

Hiruzen decided that that was the best he was going to get, and dropped the bombshell. "I believe it is because of those circumstances that Orochimaru's technique worked very differently, and brought them back to life, at the age in which they died."

Naruto squinted, trying to understand. "So...you mean...?" Then his eyes widened, as comprehension dawned and a fearful hope dominated his very being.

"Yes, Naruto," Hiruzen confirmed, as he had for the entire village recently, "your parents are, as of yesterday, alive once more."

This time, Naruto reacted as expected: facial muscles numb and blank, eyes staring at the floor. It wasn't that he was upset or confused, Hiruzen knew. The boy just needed time to cope with such paradigm-shifting information. But it was important that Naruto understood, both on an intellectual and an emotional level.

"They're..." Naruto's voice was quiet and hesitant, but the words were clear. "They're...really alive?" He was still gazing at the floor, expression unchanged.

"Yes," Hiruzen answered. Blue eyes finally met his own as he spoke. "They've been through quite a shock, suddenly ending up 12 years into the future. But considering the alternative of staying dead, they are extremely glad that they can be with you from now on."

Slowly, a smile began to form on the blonde's lips. "I must also say," Hiruzen continued, "that both you and your parents have been given a tremendous gift that few, if any, ever receive." His voice became even more serious. "Do not waste this. I'm sure you, of all people, understand."

Naruto didn't even bother to wipe the tears away. "I do."

"Good," the old man replied. He stood up from his chair, bringing his unlit pipe—the hospital staff would have his head for smoking in here—to his mouth. "Then I believe it is time for the three of you to see each other once more." Naruto's excitement was subtle, but strong. "I will bring them here."

The Hokage turned to leave, but stopped short of the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. Remember what I told you, about how your parents sealed some of their chakra into you, to watch over you?" He received a nod in reply. "Your parents were able to reconnect with that chakra, and thus regain those memories. That means they know all about you, and that they can't wait to meet you."

Naruto was nervous about the idea of having his parents know _everything_ about him, but he obviously thought it was a small price to pay for the connection it would bring, because he showed even more excitement now than before.

With a respectful nod and a caring smile, Hiruzen walked out of the room and closed the door, relieved. It had gone much better than he had expected. He nodded to the ANBU stationed at the door, and headed for the lobby area of the hospital.

Sjkfldsjkfls

He found them easily, laughing to himself about their chosen meeting place. They stood leaning over the railing, Kushina's head leaning on Minato's shoulder.

"—ainting the _entire_ Hokage Monument before getting caught? Without any ninjutsu? I wonder how he got away with that?"

Kushina snorted in reply. "You're just upset that he made your likeness look like a clown rather than a badass."

"The ANBU and chunin partrols must have been too shocked by the act to actually _do _something," Minato continued, as if he hadn't heard Kushina's remark. The slight smirk on his face said otherwise.

"When the ANBU first told me about the act, they were rather surprised that I just laughed rather than give an order right away," Hiruzen said, bringing his presence to their attention.

They turned to face him, laughter evaporating from their features. He couldn't blame them for being nervous; they had no idea how his talk with Naruto would go.

"He took it better than I thought he would, but he's had a lot of shocking information dumped on him. He's eager to meet you, regardless," Hiruzen reported, adding a smile at the end for emphasis. "Shall we?"

* * *

**A/N:** Ayup. I "skipped" ahead to this. I know you were probably awaiting Sasuke's reaction to the explanation, but rest assured: the effects of what have happened will not be ignored.

Oh, by the way: anyone who says that Naruto isn't angry enough about it all should remember about Naruto's personality, as well as the circumstances of the revelations.

Also remember that, when Minato sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, he stated that doing so was the only way to prevent the Kyuubi from being revived again by someone/something else. Considering what had just happened that night, the possibility of Tobi acquiring the Kyuubi and using it to wipe Konoha off the map without warning was very real and very scary. He might have saved Naruto's life by doing what he did. We'll never know, obviously.

**Please review! You guys make me feel guilty for not writing all the time. And I love that =)**

Some questions to answer, if you want to:

1) How were the characterizations of Minato and Kushina?

2) Did you like how Naruto handled the revelations?

3) Favorite part(s) of the chapter?

4) Least favorite parts of the chapter?

5) What would you like to see next/soon?**  
**


	4. The Road Not Taken

**A/N: **A lot to say...firstly, thank you SO much for the amazing responses! Consider this my thanks :)

I had a lot of varied reactions to last chapter. Some thought that Minato and Kushina weren't angry enough at the villagers, others thought that Naruto was more mature about it all than he should have been, and a couple even thought Hiruzen was a manipulative bastard.

Let me just say this: I plan on changing chapter 3 a bit, mainly to replace the English verbal tics with 'ttebayo and 'ttebane, which was an issue I was really unsure of how to handle. Again, your feedback helped me sort it out, and for that I am very grateful.

I remember saying that the Uzumaki family would NOT be all happy without any issues. If that isn't at least strongly hinted at in this chapter, rest assured that conflict will happen. Consider this the "honeymoon" period where they're all so grateful to be together again that they'll let everything slide-which is Truth In Television, by the way.

For anyone who does not understand Japanese honorifics well, just type "Japanese honorifics" into Wikipedia and all of your questions will be answered. Hopefully.

Further stuff will be elaborated on in the note after the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Road Not Taken**

It was strange how battle could bring Kakashi's mind into focus and order, Hiruzen noticed. Where it left many people shaken, it had the opposite effect on an already shaken mind.

The world was strange like that, he had long since decided.

As the off-white haired jounin explained the situation to a bewildered Sasuke, the aging Hokage saw something he had long hoped for. If only the circumstances were different...

Hiruzen couldn't describe how he could see the hope in Sasuke's eyes. Their very dark grey color matched the boy's mood and mindset in a way that was as chilling as it was fitting. It was a feint, reluctant hope, but it was _there_.

It pained him to be the one to crush it. That was a cruelty which wounded the heart of anyone that could feel. But it had to be done before the hope grew into a bubble that would break the boy when it popped.

"I know what you're thinking, Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen began. "But I believe the only reason Minato and Kushina are alive right now is due to the very unique circumstances surrounding their deaths. I am certain none of the Uchiha clan died in such a way," he concluded with a depressing finality.

Sasuke's shoulders drooped so slightly that only a trained, observant shinobi would notice. _Or a psychologist_, Hiruzen mentally added. He so wished he could have forced the boy into grief counseling, but in a bizarre twist of irony, Sasuke held the rights of a clan head and clan heir. Despite being a young boy, he had the right to refuse treatment. Hiruzen had tried to change Konoha's clan treaty, but the Hyuuga quickly vetoed such efforts every time.

There were several reasons Hiashi could have had in doing so, some of which were actually valid. Hiruzen was forced to watch helplessly as Sasuke suffered from an affliction more severe than those of wounded shinobi that had lost their legs.

He just hoped that it wouldn't end in tragedy.

* * *

Naruto's calm faded quickly after the Hokage left the room. He was beyond nervous, both because of what was about to happen and because he had _no idea_ _what to do_.

The idea of family was a distant thing, something observed only in glimpses, because it hurt too much otherwise. How members of a family interacted with one another was something he only understood on a specific case-by-case basis.

Like understanding that four multiplied by seven equaled 28, but if it was five instead of four, and if he had no idea how multiplication worked.

Even if he _was_ capable of understanding, he usually tried not to, to avoid the inevitable pain that came with such musings.

And deep down, he realized that he had a strong urge to yell at his father, even if he understood the reasoning behind the Fourth Hokage's actions.

He was angry, nervous, worried, and excited all at the same time, and it was making him crazy.

Shoving open the window, he gulped down some fresh air to calm his nerves, even if only a little. The sight of his village, with shinobi of all kinds and ranks running about with various tasks soothed him. Forgetting about his own predicament, he found escape in the fully understood knowledge of shinobi jumping around with purpose and instructions. Unlike him, they had tasks, with clearly set rules and contingencies. He lost himself in the view.

Until he saw _them_. One was adorned in the familiar red and white robes of the Hokage, but the other two made his mind screech to a sudden halt. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that they were his parents, but he could barely _think_ at the moment.

He recognized the Fourth easily, but his mother was something entirely new: long, red hair, pale skin, and a slim frame.

They walked towards the main entrance until he lost sight of them. Like being broken from a trance, he shook his head and stepped back from the window.

He couldn't believe this was happening; he couldn't mentally grasp the reality he was now placed in.

However, Naruto was never one for such wordiness, and simply summed up his mental state with a short, hesitantly-thought word.

_What...?_

A series of knocks on the door shook him from his thoughts. He looked at the door questioningly, as if the wooden construction held the answers to his oddly blank mind. A second later, realization hit, and he remembered what was going on.

_Screw this,_ Naruto decided. He wasn't going let being scared and nervous make him a quivering wreck. He'd just beaten a goddamn _giant demon_ to a pulp without a second thought. He crossed his arms (which were shaking, but he ignored that) and called out: "C-come in!"

Mentally cursing himself for sounding like an idiot, he saw the door open. "Sarutobi-jiji" walked in first, eying Naruto with both apprehension and fondness.

His parents walked in, not seeing him until fully in the room. Hiruzen closed the door softly.

He had no idea what to say, even if he was confident that he could say it without stuttering. The determination he held a mere few seconds ago was largely gone, but nothing filled the void.

Unless he counted uncertainty, which gripped him like an icy hand around the heart.

Hiruzen noticed both parents and child had the same looks on their faces. They were both waiting for the other to make the move, as they were entirely uncertain who _should_ make the first move.

"I realize that there is no easy way to do this," he spoke, weakening the tension as their eyes were redirected at him. "But I believe Minato has something to say first."

The man in question flinched slightly in remembrance. "R-right," he said. He shifted his gaze back to his son. Before, he had known exactly what he would say. Now that he was looking Naruto in the eye, he had difficulty putting one foot in front of the other.

He, too, had faced down a giant demon of incredible power without hesitation.

Just like his son, he acknowledged that this was much, much harder. He took a knee to bring his eyes down to Naruto's level. "Naruto," he said, staring into a shade of blue almost exactly like his own. "You have every right to be angry with me." The change in his son's expression was so slight that someone else would have missed it. "I won't apologize for the decision I made on the night you were born," Minato continued, finding it easier to speak as he went on, "but I cannot apologize enough for the pain and suffering that decision has cost you."

Naruto stared at him with an uncertain wonder in his eyes. "You're an incredibly brave, strong, and kind person, Naruto," Minato said with conviction. "You deserve far better than what you've been given. I am so sorry," he concluded, unable to find the words to explain how he felt. He noticed the tears falling from Naruto's eyes at about the same time he noticed the ones falling from his.

For a while, he waited for Naruto to react one way or another. He was prepared to be yelled at, and a part of him wanted to be. The rest of him believed that he _deserved_ to be.

He was so shocked, however ridiculous the notion was to the others in the room, when Naruto wrapped his arms around his father in a tight hug, burying his head into the crook of the man's shoulder.

Finally overcoming his surprise, Minato returned the embrace with the same enthusiasm. It was surreal—he had held the minute-old Naruto less than two days ago, yet now the boy was a short pre-teen. That didn't make it any less nice, and he found that he didn't want to let go.

He was slightly surprised when he felt Kushina's arms wrap around them; he hadn't heard her coming. It took him a moment to realize that this was the first time they had been truly _together_ as a family, and the thought both sobered his spirits and lifted them. He didn't bother trying to deal with the contradiction.

They didn't say anything for a while, and as they embraced each other, they didn't need to. When they finally did break apart to arm's length, they noticed that the Third was gone.

Kushina cupped her son's cheek, softly rubbing it with her thumb. "I know this is a lot to deal with, Naruto," she said, her voice less steady than she had hoped. "And we're confused too. But we'll get through it together. I promise."

She could hardly believe how much he resembled her husband. Despite his facial features being much closer to hers, the hair and eyes were quite distinctive. The whisker marks were a rather adorable touch, in her eyes.

Naruto's tears continued to flow, but he obviously wasn't sad. Though most of his features were blank, his lips were curled slightly upwards. "L-Like a team?"

Having seen his memories (an experience she equated to receiving the memories of a thousand shadow clones at once), she realized that a "team" was the closest idea to family that he intuitively understood. "Yes, Naruto, exactly like a team." She smiled at the thought, and at him.

She saw the acceptance (and joy, much to her own) on his face. Kushina could relish in the moment for a long time, but the silence still felt awkward. She had no idea what to say, or what they should do. Recalling her memories of him, she thought of the one thing that never failed to cheer her son up and smirked. "I hear you've got quite the appetite for ramen," she suggested, "and that a certain place in Konoha makes the _best_ ramen."

His mouth formed an expression between surprise and happiness, though it was Minato who spoke next. "Oh god, between the two of you..."

* * *

Sasuke had long since assumed his "do _not_ bother me" mood as he walked with Kakashi-sensei and Sakura to a damaged building. Donned in the flak vest that only those with the rank of chuunin or above were allowed to wear, he carried a bundle of wooden planks on his shoulder. Doing D-rank missions at half-pay to help repair the village from the recent attack was a small blessing for him, providing a much-needed outlet for his physical energy.

He was conflicted on the inside, insatiably angry at the unfairness of it all and yet also inexplicably happy. No, not _happy_, he corrected due to his long-time disassociation with the word, but _satisfied_. He'd been promoted to chuunin on his first attempt at taking the exams, despite being a rookie genin. Such an occurrence was very unusual.

But it wasn't nearly enough, he knew. Itachi had passed the Chuunin Exams when he was _ten_. By age 13, he was an ANBU captain. Thinking about it brought him back to that night...

He'd lost his parents, his family, and every relative all at once—then he was forced to relive it all again half a dozen times by his _monster_ of a brother.

The brother he had once looked up to more than anything.

The pain of it all threatened to consume him whole constantly in the months following the massacre. He had learned to bury it with anger and desire for revenge to escape that pain, but...

Something had changed.

Gaara had claimed that the pain of loneliness and hatred led to more power. At the time, it was hard to prove him wrong—Sasuke was outmatched, and for a while, so was Naruto.

But Naruto had realized it around the same time he had. Protecting people, fighting to save the ones you loved gave you a kind of strength unlike any other.

He'd witnessed it first-hand when Naruto—_Naruto_, of all people—proceeded to beat Gaara into the ground.

And when Gaara lay defeated, so did his philosophy. As if driving the point home, Gaara admitted that he was wrong.

Sasuke had been forced to question what he held as obvious truth after the events of that day, in more ways than one. Had Naruto grown from the Academy's dunce to someone capable of defeating a monster like Gaara by finding strength through his bonds? Had _he_ been stunting his growth by shunning _his_?

_But Itachi is nothing like Naruto, and has always been incredibly strong. And Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage,_ Sasuke's mind countered.

But did that just mean that Itachi was just insanely talented, and Naruto was right? After all, he recalled, Naruto had _never_ displayed any talent in the Academy. If inherited ability was responsible for Naruto's growth, it would have been obvious back then.

He thought back to all of their time together, especially during their dangerous missions. Their maneuver to rescue Kakashi-sensei had been driven by a desire to protect one's team—he recognized the feeling now. His awakening of the sharingan was the same. And then, against Orochimaru in the Forest of Death...he'd performed a feat he'd never successfully done before, after being shaken into action by Naruto's incredible feat of stopping the giant snake.

It was so obvious now—at the very least, Naruto's path was just as successful as Gaara's.

But the difference was that Naruto was happy and driven. Gaara was spiteful and, at times, _insane_.

He and Naruto had protected their precious people against all the odds. That overwhelming pain of losing the ones you loved was denied by their drive to protect.

And with a smile, he realized something that pleased him a great deal: following Naruto's path would go completely against everything Itachi had wanted. He still wanted to kill the bastard, but he would no longer be Itachi's plaything. He would live his life as _he_ saw fit, and when he was strong enough, he would reject everything Itachi stood for even as he delivered the killing blow.

The thought of it...that _path_, Sasuke realized, was incredibly satisfying, far more so than revenge at any cost. And if Naruto truly was right—and Sasuke had every reason to believe it after Gaara's total defeat—he'd get his revenge sooner, too.

Both Sakura and Kakashi noticed Sasuke's smile, but neither commented on it. Kakashi was pleased to see that the smile was softer than one fueled by negative emotion. He'd wait to see what thoughts lay beneath it.

Naruto getting his family back still weighed on Sasuke's mind, but the Uchiha now felt more disappointed than spiteful. It was definitely unfair, but Naruto had shown him both how to get an even greater revenge on Itachi and a path to greater strength. He was too happy right now—though Sasuke wouldn't associate himself with that word—to care enough about Naruto's reunion. When he did think of it now, he still had that great yearning to be reunited with _his_ parents, fueling an anger at Itachi.

But this anger was different from the one that drove his previous self-destructive, almost self-loathing mentality. Though Sasuke didn't consciously realize it, it was anger at Itachi for the massacre inflicted upon his parents and the Uchiha clan as a whole rather than rage to cover up the pain of his loss.

_This_ kind of anger bred determination in a way that made the other kind seem pitiful, and Sasuke was basking in the emotional high of it. It was liberating for a boy who had been almost constantly kept depression at bay with wild, unfocused rage.

It was something he had only experienced before in the heat of battle. But now that he could focus on the feeling and self-induce it, it was like a drug that he would crave.

He absentmindedly set the wood down next to the workers when they reached their destination. "That's the last of it for now," Kakashi-sensei said. "How about some lunch?"

Smile still on his face, Sasuke nodded.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, about Sasuke:

No, I did not pull that out of my ass, at least from a character development perspective. Sasuke DID show signs of reform all throughout the Chuunin Exam Arc, especially during his fights with Orochimaru and Gaara. It wasn't until Itachi beat the crap out of Sasuke and then brutually Mind Raped him (again) that Sasuke went crazy.

That said, I did originally write that scene as Sasuke flipping out at something Kakashi says as advice about revenge (it made sense in context), until I remembered/realized that Sasuke's character was NOT like that at that point in time.

As for Naruto-no, he's NEVER been very angry at his dad (and most certainly never at his mom). The canon example during the Invasion of Pain happened during Naruto's darkest hour, with him under extreme stress and pain...and all that happening after being put through an emotional meat-grinder.

I figured Minato giving a very sincere apology for what he put Naruto through would curtail nearly all of the anger before it truly got started.

Now: I'm going to bring up something here that will probably not sit right with some of you: at this time, I plan on writing Itachi as if he truly is the monster that the manga made out to be for a long, long time. The reason for that is that, not only does everything make a LOT more sense that way (I'm too lazy to explain why right now), but it also prevents the entire leaderships of Konoha AND Uchiha clan seem stupid and insane beyond belief. No offense to canon!Itachi intended.

So, some questions if you want to answer them:

1) How was Naruto's characterization handled both before and during the reunion?

2) How well was the reunion handled?

3) Was Sasuke's character development believable here? How do you think it should progress from here?

4) What was your favorite part(s) of the chapter?

5) What was your least favorite part(s) of the chapter?

6) Any suggestions or ideas?

**Please review! It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, which puts me in a writing mood. **You guys are awesome =)


	5. Note: Things that need to be said

Unforeseen Consequences Note

There are some things that just need to be said.

I've had a rather varied response to certain specific things about the story, and I want to clear some things up. I'll take this point by point:

A) Naruto's maturity

I am fully aware that I'm writing him as being more mature than he is at that point canonically. I'm aiming for putting him at Sasuke Retrieval Arc level maturity because I have serious difficulty writing him below that level. It was a serious problem I ran into in the past. That said, I do believe that the major deviations from canon (the premise of the story) have had a significant impact on him, and the short-term situation itself will cause him to act out of character.

B) Sasuke's promotion

Again, chalk this one up to a deviation from canonical events. Sarutobi is still around, the invasion ended on a much brighter note than last time (the village isn't distracted by Hiruzen's death, for example), and the events of the pursuit of Gaara are now known to the Hokage.

I'm also not pulling this out of my ass. Recall that Genma, the proctor for the finals, explicitly said that Sasuke was chunin level already when he ordered him to pursue Gaara. Combine that with the events following (Sasuke's declaration that he wouldn't let his friends die, and would buy them time to escape at the cost of his life), and Hiruzen decides to promote him.

Also remember that, at that specific point in canon, Sasuke was probably at his best morality-wise.

ALSO remember that Sasuke underwent major character development from the start of the Chunin Exams, leading to him dropping his overly arrogant attitude (until being mind-raped by Itachi again).

Now, I'm aware that it might rub Naruto the wrong way, but certain things prevent that here. He's got his parents back, for one, has the acknowledgement of them, the Hokage, and in some ways, the village too. I also plan on Hiruzen giving something specific to Naruto as a reward.

Sasuke's promotion was also necessary for later events that I currently plan on writing.

Sasuke was also not the only additional person promoted. Temari and Kankuro will be, along with Shino. You'll receive explanations about those later on, but essentially, when the dust settles, people's contributions to the fight will become known.

C) Mikoto's relationship with Kushina

Now that I look back on it, I think I misinterpreted that interaction. It seems a lot more like old acquaintances or friends (but not close ones). That would explain why Kushina didn't even know what gender Sasuke was (or his name), as well as why Mikoto was never a significant figure in Naruto's life (she may have been forbidden from associating with him, and since she was never that close with his mother, she wouldn't have cared enough to defy them).

But don't count any Kushina/Sasuke interaction out just yet...

D) Itachi and the Uchiha clan

I saved the hardest for last. This is probably one of the more controversial ones.

As a preface: I do like canon!Itachi's character quite a bit. My portrayal of him here is NOT bashing, but the result of logical extrapolation.

The whole Uchiha clan rebellion explanation does not make sense, no matter how you put it. I'll explain why:

1) The Uchiha clan was never very large. At most, it was maybe 100-200 people. Of those, only about 2/3rds, IF THAT, would be capable of participating in the coup. The elderly, the young (particularly genin), and those who are very out of practice would not be helpful in a coup.

2) Konoha's shinobi force of Chunin level or above numbers somewhere between 10,000-20,000 people.

3) The Hokage is a powerful guy with powerful summons. He's also very well loved by the village.

4) The ANBU force are elite, and loyal to the Hokage. Nearly all of the jounin are as well.

5) The Uchiha Clan was all located in a single place in Konoha.

6) The Hokage and the elders knew about the coup, and since Hiruzen tried to negotiate with the Uchiha, we know that the Uchiha knew that the gig was up.

7) Because of number 6, the Uchiha leaders would know that the Hokage could have most of ANBU, and even some jounin, surrounding the Uchiha district at any given moment, ready to move in and neutralize the threat. For the Uchiha leadership to walk away from the negotiating table in any way (or to not go there at all), they would have to be unbelievably stupid and insane.

8) Also because of 6, subduing the ringleaders of the coup would be relatively easy and avoid most unnecessary casualties. The threat of "we can kill all of you at any time" tends to work pretty well in that situation. Subduing the clan as a whole would not be that difficult either.

9) Itachi, ITACHI of all people, had no qualms about following Danzo's "kill them all" order, despite it not coming from the Hokage. If it meant not murdering children, his lover, innocent old people, his mother, and his best friend, such obvious alternative options would have given him pause. Also, no other ANBU or jounin tried to stop him.

10) The Uchiha already HAD tons of power and elevated status. The only thing they didn't have was an Uchiha Hokage, but there was no discrimination against them (Minato was not Senju, nor was Hiruzen, and nor was Orochimaru, who was considered as a candidate). There would be very little incentive to risk everything.

11) Itachi brutally mind-raped Sasuke twice, and drove him to insanity, abandoning his friends and his village, and encouraged him to murder his best friend. Does that sound like a loving older brother to you?

12) Even if the Uchiha clan was larger than we can reasonably guess, keep in mind that a single 13-year old ANBU captain managed to kill ALL OF THEM in a single night, without any of them putting up a significant fight. If that was possible, then imagine what 90% of the ANBU force with many jounin mixed in could do.

13) Itachi's deal with Tobi came from nowhere and—you guessed it—doesn't make sense either. Tobi's power should be capable of crippling Konoha singlehandedly in a single night. Obviously, despite wanting to very badly, he never did. Nor did he ever kidnap Naruto, despite a LOT of evidence that he had the ability to do so. There's obviously some reason why he never did (even long before the Uchiha Massacre), so Itachi's deal does not make sense, even if Tobi had any incentive to keep his end of the bargain. Also, how did Itachi even find out about Tobi, let alone find him?

14) It's not like Danzo to want to exterminate such a powerful kekkei genkai when alternatives exist. Ordering Itachi to spare the children would have made more sense, especially since said children would be easily influenced.

15) Sasuke has every right to want to kill Danzo and the other elders for the Uchiha Massacre. Killing people whom they KNEW were completely innocent, as well as many who could be subdued without killing them, was beyond excessive and monstrous.

16) From the perspective of Itachi actually being less than sane, him leaving Sasuke alive (as well as mentally breaking him and encouraging him to murder his best friend for power) does actually make sense. That way, he would eventually acquire the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

17) During Sasuke and Itachi's final fight, there was always a chance of Itachi accidentally killing Sasuke. Believing otherwise is unrealistic.

I could go on. But I won't, because there is actually one last point I wish to talk about:

E) I will make some changes to the setting/system to make things make more sense. When the setting makes more sense, it is much easier (and more enjoyable) for me to write in. I hope to not have to change much, but chances are that if you think I wrote something that goes against canon, that means that I KNOW and made a deliberate decision to do so. S'Kartan's outstanding story, "Team 8," does this as well—for example, elemental techniques are much easier to learn, though mastering them is still a very difficult process.

I will try to avoid doing something like this again, but I really felt that these things needed to be said.


	6. Two Riders Were Approaching

A/N: So I guess I'll just go ahead and officially label this story a very slight AU to make everyone happy and things more convenient. I'll be changing the note I posted as chapter 5 to reflect that.

So if you see differences from canon, go ahead and point them out, but keep in mind that it may be intentional. That also means that, in the "blank spaces" of the manga, things can happen as long as they don't go counter to established logic and characterizations (e.g., Sakura wishing Naruto good luck in the CE finals at some point in the days before they began).

With regards to Itachi, I promise I have no intention of bashing his character—he will, for instance, still be mind-bogglingly badass. He'll just be a true villain all along, whereas canon!Itachi is currently kicking ass from beyond the grave and giving important advice to our protagonists.

About Minato being a jinchuuriki: haven't decided yet.

And please, if you ask a question or are curious about something, don't make your review anonymous, because I don't have a real way of answering you then.

Yes, I will be going back to Chapter 4 to match up the verbal tics.

Also-"Itadakimasu" is similar to "bon apetite" or saying grace, in case you don't know.

Sorry if this chapter is a little rough around the edges. The first part was very difficult to write, and I wanted to get this out now rather than be forced to wait several days while things are too busy for me.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Two Riders Were Approaching**

As they walked through the hospital, Minato and Kushina had to fight the urge to hold Naruto's hands—they knew he wouldn't exactly be comfortable with such a "childish" gesture.

That didn't make it any less difficult to cope with the contrast of having a teenager where a newborn baby existed a mere day ago. The change was so sudden and drastic that, despite their many years of experience over their son, they felt more emotionally confused than Naruto did.

The unabashed stares of nearly everyone in the hospital didn't help matters. Hiruzen had publicly announced their return (along with why such an occurrence was practically impossible to recreate) to smooth over the transition. Minato and Kushina refused to hide behind lies and disguises, and the very notion of pretending not to be Naruto's parents was met with cold anger. Dangerous or not, they would live in the open. The alternative would kill them in a far more painful way.

They consciously tried to see the silver-lining of the situation—they'd been given another chance to be there for each other, to be a family again. But that knowledge didn't ease the pain enough. Despite the energy and smiles that Naruto was known for, Konoha's Number One Knuckleheaded Ninja was hurting on the inside in ways few could understand.

Naruto wasn't alone in the invisible pain, even if the rising genin didn't realize it. The gaping wounds of loss, grief, and shock were still fresh, and the monumental adjustments they had to make delayed the healing process substantially.

They had talked about how things would be extremely awkward at first, and how difficult getting past that would be. Like their emotional pain, it would take time to mend. But seeing Naruto walk around with a smile that wasn't in the least bit forced made it all worth it.

The staring issue wasn't as bad in the general village, mainly due to the masses of people making the Uzumaki family less recognizable.

Minato couldn't help but look at the villagers with a guarded expression. He knew that some of them had looked at his son with disgust, even going as far as calling him a freak to his face. More than anything, it was the fact that his desire to spend time with his family was far greater than to rip those bastards limb from limb that kept him in check.

Most of the villagers had simply avoided Naruto out of fear and suspicion—something he wasn't truly angry at them for, as the idea of a jinchuuriki was foreign and scary to those who didn't understand it. He knew that the village's recent turnaround of opinion had much more to do with Naruto's actions at the Chunin Exam finals than the few people who had managed to make the connection about his parentage. That fact was somewhat comforting; most of the village he loved had wronged his son out of fear rather than hatred. Seeing Naruto utilize the Kyuubi's power without posing a risk to himself or anyone around him had done wonders for his reputation.

Of course, there were also those who had helped Naruto along the way. Iruka Umino deserved his extreme gratitude for being a quasi-brother/father figure to the boy in Naruto's later years. The owners of the Ichiraku's ramen stand were outstanding people for their constantly affectionate treatment of the village pariah. It didn't surprise Minato when Hiruzen said that Kakashi always volunteered to be in Naruto's ANBU guard. Kakashi had never been very comfortable around other people—the tragic series of traumas that plagued the boy since a young age had erected an emotional iron wall. Raising a baby was something he just didn't know how to do. And when the legendary jounin finally took on a team, Kakashi finally started to thaw out.

Minato understood the effect those people had on his son. The pain of the bad caused him to latch on to the good and never let go—Naruto pulling himself towards Gaara with nothing but his chin made perfect sense now. His friends motivated him to do the impossible as a matter of course; Hinata restored Naruto's faith in himself, Sakura provided the support of someone he had long since admired, and Sasuke had been a rival that enjoyed the challenge Naruto presented.

"Oi! Teuchi-san! Ayame-neesan! I'm back 'ttebayo!"

The yelling shook both parents from their thoughts as they realized they were almost at their destination. They recognized the legendary (in their son's eyes) cooks, and smiled. This place, at least, was a stable refuge of happy memories for them all.

Teuchi unleashed a deep, hearty laugh when he caught sight of them. "I should have known! Only your son could have inherited such a strong appetite for ramen, Kushina!"

The redhead in question rubbed the back of her neck in nervousness—a tic that was also inherited, she remembered. "Y-Yeah, we certainly have a soft spot for the stuff 'ttebane," Kushina said, turning red from embarrassment. She had to get used to that...

"Well grab a seat!" Teuchi encouraged, gesturing to a chair next to where Naruto had eagerly claimed his own. "I can't express how amazing it is to see you all again!"

Ayame emerged from the back of the shop, uncharacteristically shy. "It's good to see you again, Naruto," she managed, smiling.

Minato could easily understand why Naruto loved this place, and it was more than just the food. The people who worked there was genuine and welcoming, and eating at Ichiraku's was as much a social experience as it was a dining one.

Naruto ordered "the usual," while Kushina and Minato started out with salt ramen.

They had beaten the typical lunchtime rush, and were thus the only ones currently seated. "I saw your fight with Neji, Naruto," Teuchi began, "It was one of the best Chunin Exam fights I've ever seen!" He wasn't lying—it was a classic underdog-style fight, with plenty of surprises to keep him on the edge of his seat.

Kushina noticed that Naruto was more reserved than normal, though his true personality still showed through. "Thanks, Teuchi-san!"

She had to fight off a dark mood as she realized that Naruto felt far more comfortable around Teuchi than his own mother. It was a gut-wrenching feeling, and she had a hard time getting past it.

"That punch from underground was perfect," Minato said, his lips almost forming a grin. "I don't think you could have made a better end to the fight if you tried."

Naruto blushed under the praise, scratching the back of his neck and suddenly finding the countertop very interesting. The idea that the Fourth was his father was something he was still nowhere near coming to terms with, especially with the man back from the dead.

They were all being uncharacteristic, Kushina realized. She was silent and brooding, Naruto was shy and hesitant, and Minato was relaxed and informal. Now that she saw it, it was rather surreal. That didn't make speaking any easier, though.

"I'll have to teach you some ranged jutsu so you don't have to beat every enemy down with your fists," Minato said, clearly amused. He snuck a glance at her, hoping she understood the inside joke—but was met with a smile that definitely didn't reach her eyes.

Minato knew that _she_ was the one in a dark mood now, but he couldn't do much about it with an audience. He held eye contact longer than he probably should have, but Naruto was still completely oblivious.

A few shinobi that he didn't recognize entered the eatery, too immersed in their own conversation to notice exactly who they were sitting near. "—eah, but the D-ranks are a nice break from the usual. Spending so much time in the village is kind of refreshing," one of them said.

"Yeah, but remember that the only reason we have all of these D-ranks is because of the attack on the village," another replied. "You heard what happened with Suna?"

The third one—a kunoichi with long black hair and sharp facial features sighed. "Yeah. Unconditional surrender and apologies, because they realized that they'd been duped." Minato noticed an undertone of sarcasm in her voice.

"Whadda you mean, Uzuki?" asked the first shinobi—a teenaged genin, if the lack of flak vest was any indication.

"I mean that the Kazekage was assassinated and impersonated some time ago by Orochimaru," Uzuki answered, sounding exceptionally bitter.

"Orochimaru?" the genin asked, fear clearly written all over his face. "He was strong enough to take out the Kazekage without anyone knowing?"

"I heard Orochimaru was once a candidate for the position of Fourth Hokage," older male of the trio added. "If you ask me, something like this is exactly what he'd do."

Uzuki nodded. "Yeah, it's certainly his style. I'm just glad we got the bastard at the end." She stared ahead absently, her mind someplace else. Her lips drew a taught line on her hard expression. Minato knew a look like that came only from true anger.

Teuchi delivered the first round of ramen with a smile before turning to the newcomers. "What'll it be?"

Minato silently thanked the man for not making a big deal of things—the shred of normality made coping with the situation a little easier.

"Itadakimasu!"

He turned his attention back to Naruto, who was now digging into the ramen with a vengeance. Kushina smiled at his antics—a genuine smile this time—as she was reminded of herself as a child.

They soon joined him, though with noticeably less frenzy. It may have been awkward and little like actual familial interaction, but for the moment...it was enough.

* * *

"Alright! Lunch time!" Kiba's enthusiastic yell was met by a similarly enthusiastic bark. Hinata smiled in reply, and Shino...well, she couldn't tell what he did, if anything.

As Kiba had said, he had to make up for the unnatural quietness of his teammates (though not in such descriptive terms, Hinata recalled).

She looked up from the ground to see Kiba smiling reassuringly at her and Shino also sneaking a glance her way. They'd been like that almost constantly since she'd been cleared from the hospital. As much as she wanted to stand on her own, she definitely appreciated their concern.

She also managed to catch Kurenai-sensei's subtle smile when the jounin saw the interaction. Their acceptance and encouragement had helped her more than she could describe. They had all been impressed by her display at the Chunin Exams, despite her loss and injures.

Though she was cleared for very light duties now, she was surprised to find herself impatient for the opportunity to train harder than she ever had.

As Hinata was the only one fully looking forward, she was the first to spot Team 7 as they turned onto the path. To her dissapointment, Naruto was not among them. All she had heard was that he had defeated Neji _and_ Gaara, and that he was physically fine. She was dying to know how he had managed either feat, but they'd all been too distracted by work to talk about it.

Hinata only spared a moment's glance at the two oddly dressed figures further along the path—one of them seemed to be carrying something resembling a large sword wrapped in bandages.

"Hello, Kurenai," Kakashi spoke, noticeably less lazy in demeanor and tone. The jounin's hands were in his pockets as usual, but he seemed...cheerful, despite how odd the word sounded anywhere near 'Kakashi'.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai answered, a smile finding its way onto her face. "Heading for lunch, too?"

"Actually, I have an important errand to run," Kakashi said, suddenly serious. "Sasuke, why don't you and Sakura have lunch with Team 8?" It may have technically been a question, but the tone clearly left no room for argument, and Sasuke nodded.

Kurenai caught on immediately. "Somebody has to make sure Kakashi doesn't lose track of time," she told her team. "I'll catch up with you when he's done," she added at their questioning glances. Hinata just nodded out of obedience—she was rarely one to argue—and Shino caught the undertones well enough to curtail Kiba's expected questions.

"Well, if you're going to be like _that_," an amused voice called out from ahead of them. Both of the figures turned around, but their uniforms obscured nearly everything. In fact, it was the uniforms that worried her most—they were black with white-outlined red clouds adorned throughout. Such a distinctive appearance meant that these two weren't afraid of being seen.

_Damn it. _Kurenai drew a kunai without hesitation. Whoever those two strangers were, they were confident enough to take on both teams present without worry despite being well inside Konoha.

Shino and Sasuke were on guard and armed immediately, with Sakura and Kiba following soon after. To Kurenai's mild relief, Kiba and Shino had taken a protective stance in front of Hinata, who was the biggest liability.

"We're not here for a fight," the other figure spoke, but it was clearly directed towards his partner rather than the Konoha shinobi. Kurenai noticed Sasuke go completely stiff and made the connection.

_Shit._ If that was _Itachi Uchiha_ in front of her, even the combined efforts of herself and Kakashi wouldn't be guaranteed to bring him down. And with plenty of liabilities present, it would take quite a bit of luck for them all to make it out of this fight without serious harm.

"And who might you be?" Kakashi asked, sounding only mildly interested.

And then her worst fears were confirmed as both figures removed their large hats. The blood-red eyes of notorious prodigy-turned-mass murderer Itachi Uchiha and the blue, shark-like appearance of Kisame Hoshigake appeared in front of her.

"Waltzing right into Konoha isn't something you'd do on a whim," Kakashi stated, his tone still somehow casual. "Why are you here?"

Despite the fact that Itachi hadn't moved an inch, Kakashi felt like he was being measured up by the man. "When I first heard the rumors that the Fourth was alive, I was disbelieving. But now I know that it is true...things will become very interesting indeed."

Kakashi was no longer playing it cool. "What do you mean?"

"I wonder how the Fourth will react when we acquire his legacy," Itachi stated, sounding slightly amused for someone who rarely showed emotion.

Kakashi's eye shot wide open in realization before narrowing again in apprehension. "Why would you tell us this?"

"Because you already know," Itachi said simply. "Or, if you do not, you will very soon. It is of no consequence."

_You're just sadistic like that,_ Kakashi mentally translated. _Or he's just trying to get under my skin. I hate to admit it, but it's working, you bastard._ "You both realize that I could have a dozen ANBU here in a few seconds?"

It was a slight exaggeration, Kurenai knew—it would take at least 10 seconds for such reinforcements to arrive. Against most opponents, that threat would force a retreat.

"I doubt you would even manage to get a signal off," Itachi casually replied. "That is, of course, assuming that you would be able to try while simultaneously protecting your genin." Kakashi slowly moved his hitae-ate up in response, revealing the famous sharingan eye with which he had copied a thousand jutsu. The man wearing a gashed Konoha hitae-ate lifted his head a fraction of an inch and turned his gaze onto his brother. "After all, we wouldn't want your friends to die. Would we, Sasuke?"

Before anyone could respond, Sasuke charged forward with a yell of utter rage, bluish-white electricity crackling from his outstretched hand.

And then all hell broke loose.

Kisame completed a small series of seals, unleashing a small, guided torrent of water at the Konoha shinobi. Kakashi copied the technique and unleashed it himself to counter, forcing Kurenai to bail Sasuke out of what could very well be his final moments.

Sasuke's lightning-shrouded hand lunged at a stationary Itachi, who seemed to make no move in his own defense. When the Chidori was a mere foot away from his chest, Itachi's arm swung up at mind-boggling speed, catching Sasuke's forearm with a disturbing ease.

A look of shock appeared on Sasuke's face only for a fraction of a second before it was replaced by one of agony, accompanied by a sickening _crack_ of broken bone.

Kurenai rushed past Sakura, who threw a tagged kunai into the air. The jounin was already finished with the required seals of a genjutsu technique by the time she was within striking distance of Itachi. Her _Hundred Constraining Vines_ technique was capable of restraining some jounin for several seconds, but she was merely hoping for a fraction of that. She would have picked a more powerful illusion, but she simply didn't have the time to set it up—Kurenai was acting mostly on reflex and instinct at this point.

Sasuke's pained cry reached her ears right as she reached _him_. Kurenai slashed her kunai at the missing-nin's gripping hand, but only managed a nick before Itachi moved it clear.

A fraction of a second was all she had managed to get, but she hoped it might be enough. Grabbing around the torso with both arms, she jumped back, away from the monster of a man.

To the eyes of Itachi, her evasive action was too predictable. He drew and threw a kunai almost too fast for Kurenai to see.

In midair and burdened by an unfamiliar load, she was incapable of dodging an attack from so close. She couldn't even consciously register the metal blade speeding towards her face.

But some obviously could, because the kunai was deflected cleanly away by an object that moved too quickly for her to recognize.

"_GET BACK!"_ It was Kakashi's voice, she realized. She was grateful to have already been in the process of doing so, because a second later Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigake _exploded_.

The blast wasn't too powerful, but anyone within a few meters of the explosion would have been dead.

And now Kurenai was on her way down into the trees, doing her best to shield Sasuke from the thicker branches. Luckily, they ended up on the ground with nothing more serious than some nasty bruises. At about that same time, another explosion went off above them.

It took her a few moments to reorient herself. Sasuke was getting to his feet, hissing in pain. Kakashi's voice called out, "All clear!"

She had no idea what had just happened, but there was something she needed to know above all else. "Is anyone hurt?" she called out.

Kakashi called out a reassuring, "no," much to Kurenai's relief. That had been too close...

She helped a mostly silent Sasuke walk back towards the rest of the group, grateful to see that the two of them looked the worst for wear. "What happened?" she asked. ANBU were already on scene.

"Exploding shadow clones," Kakashi answered grimly, "both were Itachi's."

"We'll organize a search immediately," said the most senior-ranking ANBU present. Shinobi were still arriving piecemeal in response to the explosions. Kakashi nodded in thanks.

Kurenai felt both nauseous and terrified at the thought of _exploding_ shadow clones_. Such a technique in the wrong hands could be insanely dangerous..._, she thought, until realization dawned. _Itachi Uchiha_ knew such a technique, and he was very likely _in Konoha at this very moment_.

"Watch over the genin," Kakashi ordered to a dazed Kurenai, "I'm joining the search."

* * *

A/N: Yeah.

**Please review! It gets my butt back into writing gear. I'm up at 4AM posting this stuff because of how awesome you guys are :)**

Some questions if you want to answer them:

1) How was the Uzumaki interaction?

2) Did you recognize who Uzuki was?

3) How was the action? Did you understand what was going on? Was it entertaining?

4) How was my portrayal of Itachi?

5) Favorite part(s) of the chapter?

6) Least favorite part(s)?

7) Any general feedback or things you'd like to see?

Bonus questions, for fun:

8) Do you get the symbolism of the title? What song it is from, and why it fits?

9) Did you notice a certain parallel between this chapter and another chapter in a different story?

Until next time!

8)


	7. The Howling Wind

A/N: This chapter makes me nervous. Let me once again state that this story is now officially a slight AU to allow for some creative freedom. If something bothers you even after acknowledging that, then please do let me know.

Also, something to add: If I post semi-regular status updates about the progress of the latest chapters as well as random notes about the story, would you guys actually check for and read them? If the answer is honestly no, then that's fine. I'd just like to know.

Also, to clarify, Shikamaru is already a chunin. I thought that was a given unless otherwise stated, so my apologies. Shino will be made chunin in the near future, too.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Howling Wind**

Rumors were annoying, Itachi firmly decided. They were possibilities with unknown veracity, creating more work for those tasked with finding the truth.

The rumor that the Fourth Hokage had returned spread rapidly following Orochimaru's defeat. Such a possibility was incredible, and Itachi switched his priority from scouting Naruto Uzumaki to investigating this rumor.

Interestingly, he'd accomplished both tasks regardless. Alongside the rumor, the stories about how Naruto had defeated Suna's fearsome jinchuuriki and that Orochimaru had assassinated and impersonated the Kazekage were widespread. The snake had been busy, Itachi had idly thought.

When the Hokage had announced (and posted written explanation at key points in Konoha so the stories would stay accurate) the truth behind the rumor, Itachi had been in the village as well.

It was an interesting turn of events, but it also meant that going after the Kyuubi jinchuuriki would be ill-advised. As valuable as the information was, the risk was no longer worth the reward. All he and Kisame had to do was walk out of the village and hope not to attract too much attention until they were in the clear.

Unfortunately, the attention of Kakashi Hatake was exactly the wrong kind. A jounin of that caliber was highly perceptive, intelligent, and informed. Luckily, he was able to break line-of-sight long enough to give the famous Copy Ninja a false trail to follow.

From that point on, their time until Konoha was on high alert would be quite limited. Most shinobi in that situation would treat it like a race.

Itachi would turn the situation to his advantage, with little effort. A third shadow clone to draw the focus of the search away, even if briefly, would be perfect.

The results would be fascinating.

Of course, he couldn't forget the special treat waiting for him—_Sasuke_.

His spare eyes, the most critical step on his road to power, were evolving into what he needed them to be. Soon, he would know how far along they were.

And how far along Sasuke was. He didn't often consciously admit it, but he still loved his brother, in an odd sense. Unlike the arrogant fools of his former clan, Sasuke worked hard for the recognition of his loved ones, not for status, rank, or petty pride. And now Sasuke knew true pain, and the price of that arrogance, that _pride_.

It was that aloofness that drove nations to war, time and time again. The deaths of thousands for no logical or meaningful reason, all for the sake of _pride_ and _arrogance_. The Uchiha clan represented the epitome of that _rot_ and _cancer_ that brings the hell of war down upon the world. The only way to rid the world of that hell would be to kill that cancer entirely and ruthlessly.

But Sasuke was an exception. He was still untainted by the Uchiha's disease when that night arrived. Even if he were not, Sasuke's eyes were extremely valuable. With the power of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he could take his power to a new level. He could, along with the rest of Akatsuki, bring a new dawn to the world.

* * *

Within two minutes of the explosions, Konoha's Village Internal Defense Division was searching for any transformed shadow clones using intricate seals and equipment. Unfortunately, the gap between sensing their location from VIDD headquarters and taking down the clones without casualties was significant. But for Konoha, which had gained a reputation for its resilience and adaptability, developing a system for responding to intruders and surprise attacks on extremely short notice was a necessity. Few knew about its full capabilities—not even the ANBU captains had entered VIDD's more sensitive rooms.

With the constantly maintained detection barrier, one of the only ways to sneak into Konoha without alerting anyone was to use the cover of an attack; a break in the barrier was not itself significant when dozens were flowing through already.

Itachi and Kisame had entered the village undetected, believing the village weakened and disorganized after the attack. They hadn't considered the outlandish possibility that getting out would be significantly harder than getting in.

* * *

Minato saw the ANBU (and many conventional shinobi) start moving with purpose after the explosions. Normally, such loud noises weren't a big deal in a shinobi village. Training of various kinds, testing of equipment and jutsu, and accidents accounted for a vast majority of such disturbances.

But hearing several explosions from the central district of the village was not a good sign. Seeing other shinobi act with alarm was all Minato needed for confirmation.

"Kushina," Minato called out. She was starting to notice that something was amiss, but she quickly refocused her attention on her husband. "Stay here and protect Naruto," he ordered, accompanying it with a hard look that conveyed his meaning well enough on its own.

It wasn't just out of a desire to keep his family safe that he ordered her to stay with Naruto; their son was a jinchuuriki, and thus a valuable village asset. _And a prime target,_ he bitterly added.

He made it to the scene of the incident quickly by following the crowd, so to speak. Most of the shinobi stood back, knowing that if their assistance was needed, they would be ordered into action. Furthermore, they were spread out significantly due to constantly shouted orders. Recently arriving shinobi noticed the pattern and followed suit, which made any other activity suspicious. Minato hoped they wouldn't attack him before he reached the center.

Of course, the fact that he was the very recently back-from-the-dead Fourth Hokage made getting answers easier, too. "It was Itachi Uchiha," one of the ANBU explained. "Two of his shadow clones engaged two jounin-led genin teams and then exploded. No one was seriously injured. However, there could be other such exploding shadow clones in the village, transformed to look like anyone else."

Minato understood the implications immediately. He also recognized the name—he'd known about the Uchiha Massacre both from Hiruzen's explanation and Naruto's memories. "Anything else?"

"Kakashi Hatake reported that Itachi was likely using this threat to escape without a fight. If so, he'll likely be using other shadow clones to draw our search away from himself."

The analysis was sound, Minato reasoned. Nodding, he added: "Have VIDD contact me as soon as they have a lead."

"Yes sir!"

He teleported back to Kushina, instructing her to erect a barrier around Ichiraku's and keep it up until he personally gave the all clear. He knew she wanted answers—her hard, questioning look said more than enough. "No time," he gave as explanation, and he was gone again, off to the Hokage Tower. He could still see Naruto's highly confused expression in his mind's eye, and felt much more at ease with his family safe.

VIDD was responsible for coordinating village defense in case of an attack or threat, and utilized technologies in conjunction with seals and jutsu to communicate across vast distances mentally. Certain members of ANBU were favored for being able to use this skill without any special equipment. Combining the two facts, Minato figured he'd be notified of a target within the minute.

He wasn't wrong. _"Hokage-sama, this is VIDD. Target sighted at a general civilian market in the eastern district. Target appears to be female, has shoulder length hair, standard chunin shinobi attire, and is five feet, two inches tall. I will guide you to the target."_

Using a transformation of his own, he followed the instructions to the market and the target itself.

'She' was browsing through food stands in an open market. It wasn't quite as crowded as it could have been, as people were out at lunch, but there were far too many left for an explosion to be allowed to go off here. He did his best not to look out of place as he stalked the target. He would have to destroy that clone before it got a chance to go off.

Minato should have realized why Itachi picked a civilian market—civilians would not notice suspicious behavior, even if they weren't too busy browsing for goods themselves. As such, Itachi had free reign to look at all of his surroundings whenever he wanted.

Itachi being Itachi, however, the clone didn't even take advantage of that until Minato closed to within a couple meters of the 'woman.' When their eyes met, Minato froze. The gaze held, and what would have followed would have been a split-second race that would determine the fate of many innocent people.

_Would_ have, because Minato went against his instinct to attack and did something that surprised him even as he did it. He smiled, slouching his head down sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head nervously. He timidly walked forward, trying to act like someone who had been caught staring at a beautiful member of the opposite sex. "H-Hi," he said unsteadily, not making eye contact. "I'm sorry, I just saw how beautiful you were and couldn't help mys—," he went from nervous bachelor to lightning-fast shinobi faster than the eye could blink, shoving his fist straight through center mass.

Minato was rewarded with a satisfying _pop_ as the clone dissipated. He didn't move for a second, still very tense, adjusting to the fact that he had not been blown up. Exhaling a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding, he turned to the confused onlookers. "Shinobi business, sorry for disturbing you."

He waited until he was back on the rooftops before undoing his transformation, to avoid the stares. _"Great work, Hokage-sama. So far we have not identified any other targets. Given that Itachi Uchiha has already used at least three shadow clones, the likelihood of there being more is slim. We will keep you updated with any new leads."_

Despite knowing that the person on the other end of the mental communication had no way of seeing it, Minato nodded. He closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths to ease the tension. Reasonably calm, he teleported back to the unofficial gathering point, ignoring the awed looks of the surrounding shinobi, including those of Naruto's former classmates.

As expected, the ANBU agents present already knew that Minato had taken out a clone. "Excellent job, Hokage-sama!" one of them said.

"Thank you." He said it reflexively out of an ingrained habit of politeness. He turned to the ANBU agent that he had spoken to earlier. "Do we know why Itachi was here?"

"He...he said he was after your legacy, Hokage-sama," Kurenai answered for the ANBU. She looked nervous, though Minato couldn't tell if it was from speaking to a previously-dead legend or something else. "And we have reason to believe that he is working with some kind of organization. Kisame Hoshigake, a missing-nin from Kiri, is also a member."

It took a moment to understand what she meant by "legacy," but when he did, he only showed mild surprise. Several things made sense now, including the nature of this possible organization. That masked man—Madara Uchiha, potentially—wanted the power of the Kyuubi.

Minato tightened his fists hard enough for his nails to bite into his skin. That _monster_ tried to kill his son, had killed his wife, many villagers, and tried to destroy all of Konoha. He would keep trying until he was _ended_, for good.

But now Madara—he decided to call him that for the sake of convenience, and because it was the most logical answer—was working with other highly dangerous shinobi.

They would be hunted and brought down ruthlessly, Minato decided, even if he had to do it himself.

Kurenai must have noticed Minato's silent rage, because her posture and voice become noticeably uneasy. "Hokage-sama?"

Minato forced himself to take a breath and calm down. There would be a time and a place for unrefined anger, but right now it was not productive. "Any further word from VIDD?" he asked the ANBU.

"Not yet," he answered. "They've done a sweep of the populated areas, are now looking for any other shadow clones."

There probably weren't any others, Minato concluded. Shadow clones were costly, chakra-wise. A common misconception among most shinobi was that making a shadow clone consumed exactly half of the user's chakra. While it was actually true for most shinobi, those with uncommonly high chakra reserves were not affected in quite the same way—the amount of chakra flowing in their chakra circulatory system was divided in half, but the original could call on reserves from within to refill the circulation.

Even if Itachi did have exceptionally high reserves (not an impossibility, for a shinobi of his caliber), using more than three shadow clones would be a waste of chakra. And if Itachi's goal was to get out of the danger Konoha posed, conserving chakra was important. Extra clones could be easily tracked down and taken out by other shinobi, now that the needed defense network was being set up.

Minato's focus shifted elsewhere. "Have we started searching for the originals outside the village?"

"Third-sama ordered that the outer patrols be notified," the ANBU explained. "If the intruders are detected, we'll defin—"

It didn't take a genius to understand that the ANBU had just been mentally contacted by the VIDD.

Nor did it take a genius to understand what Minato wanted, ASAP. "They left the village, heading southwest, but they're probably miles away by now. Our external tracking stations haven't picked anything up yet."

The tone of the order carried malice, but those present knew exactly who it was aimed at. "_Move out._"

* * *

She was able to form the barrier without trouble, but she still felt the need to understand what was going on. There wasn't nearly enough noise for it to be an attack, but if Minato had instructed her to make a barrier...

"Uh, m-...mom?" Kushina noticed that he said the word with uncertainty and unfamiliarity, and it stung. "What's going on?"

Turning back to face him (and Teuchi, Ayame, and the genin that had been instructed to guard Ichiraku's), she stifled the maelstrom of emotion that had been plaguing her for a while. "I don't know," she said, her voice not nearly as steady as she hoped.

She couldn't help but focus on the fact that Naruto's facial expression returned to its emotional, contemplative expression from earlier.

And then it hit her, like a slap in the face, except that her brain felt the impact, not the face, and the slap was more like an emotional torque than a physical impact. Not bothering to make sense out of that stupid subconscious simile, she walked forward to her son and embraced him tightly.

How had she been so stupid? How had she not realized—

After everything that had happened, and everything that Naruto had just learned, they took him _out for ramen?_ Like they were old friends catching up over lunch? He knew almost nothing about them, and he didn't know what their relationship was supposed to be like.

She and Minato had been such _idiots_, she thought. "I'm sorry, Naruto," she said, eyes beginning to tear up. "I know you don't really know us, and we're messing things up. I'm sorry..."

Naruto relaxed into her arms, holding his mother tighter now that he was finally sure how he felt about _something_. "It's okay." His voice was quiet, but certain. "I don't know how things are supposed to be or what I'm supposed to do, but I know you guys care—that you _love_ me, so I don't care. I don't care—I'm just happy...that you're here."

She was definitely crying now, but she didn't care—it just felt so _right_ and Naruto was such an incredible person, better than she deserved—

Teuchi and Ayame looked on silently, beaming. Ayame _really_ wished she had a camera to capture the moment, and was tempted to somehow quietly ask that genin standing awkwardly off to the side.

* * *

As soon as they were out of sight from the gates, Itachi and Kisame abandoned their normal pace. Even with their combined might, the literal army that Konoha could launch at them on short notice would be very dangerous. The Fourth Hokage was especially frightening—had they known that he was truly back from the dead, they would never have entered Konoha in the first place.

Still, as long as they exited the village before Konoha was on to their trail, even the Fourth wouldn't be able to catch up. He would need to be able to teleport miles away, at a location far outside the village yet close enough to intercept them.

Itachi was slightly annoyed that two of his clones had started a confrontation a little sooner than necessary, but it was worth it to see how Sasuke (and his eyes) had progressed.

But the person who took out his third clone was a bizarre mystery. That whole situation was weird, but he didn't have the time to ponder it, because something far more important now occupied his attention.

To almost anyone else, it would have been a blur of blue, green, and yellow.

To Itachi, it was a clear (if insanely fast) attack that wasn't moving in quite the right direction to be aimed at him.

To Kisame, it was a punch straight to the gut, with enough force to send him hurtling into the branches of a nearby tree.

* * *

Later, Itachi reflected on this turn of events with a cold, logical thought process.

It must have been extremely bad luck that allowed the Yellow Flash to find and catch up to them so quickly, Itachi reasoned. No, not just luck, he decided. Konoha's internal defenses and detection must have been much more advanced than he had believed. A detection barrier was expected, encountered, and bypassed, but apparently the village had some way of actively detecting specific individuals inside it _very_ quickly.

Such a system would have been extremely difficult to design and utilize. What could have triggered such a normally unnecessary investment?

And that was where his deduction reached a dead end, to be left for another time when more information was available.

* * *

Itachi threw a few shuriken to buy a little time and disrupt the Fourth's actions. Unfortunately, it did neither, as Minato turned around, already having finished the seals for a wind release jutsu.

_Wind Release: Shattering Bullet,_ Itachi recognized. He countered with a _Fire Release: Grand Fireball_ jutsu, countering the attack elementally. His opponent's jutsu had far more kinetic force, however, forcing him to dodge as soon as he could.

A three-pronged kunai flew at him slightly off target, missing him by a couple feet.

But well within the range needed to teleport inside his guard, Itachi knew. Sure enough, the Yellow Flash, donned in standard Konoha shinobi attire, appeared out of thin air, kunai thrusting towards Itachi's stomach.

The Uchiha deflected the kunai with his hand, pushing against the dull side of the weapon. With the immediate threat dealt with, he cast an illusion using his free index finger.

Minato saw Itachi dodge the follow up punch by ducking straight down. In reality, Itachi strafed left, drawing a kunai and thrusting into Minato's gut in a fluid, barely perceptible motion.

The armored jacket prevented the kunai from going in too deep, but Minato didn't even flinch as he grabbed Itachi's wrist with his free hand, dropped the kunai in the other in exchange for a Rasengan that slammed into Itachi's head.

The remainder of Itachi's body burst into black crows as Minato turned into a puff of smoke.

Itachi landed on a nearby branch, thankful that his double-layered illusion had worked.

Minato performed a chakra-assisted burst of high speed, known amongst shinobi as a _shunshin_, aiming a kunai at Itachi's back.

Itachi rotated his body clockwise, dodging to the left. Minato didn't make eye contact, making a quick illusion impossible. That was rather unfortunate for the missing-nin, because Minato formed a small, miniature Rasengan in his other hand, swiping out with it like a club.

A relatively wide line of red was visible on Itachi, running diagonally from the right pectoral to just below the shoulder. The wound wasn't deep enough to be incapacitating, but it was not something that could be ignored.

Using the momentum of the outward swing, Minato twisted in the air, throwing the kunai at Itachi, who was too dazed and not in a stable enough stance to dodge. The kunai embedded itself into his torso.

Minato teleported behind Itachi using the recently thrown kunai, hoping for a killing blow.

He barely had time to register the sound of flame, but he teleported to where his first kunai landed in time to prevent being set alight by black flames.

Itachi yanked the three-pronged kunai out of his body, throwing it clear before Minato could take advantage. Kisame jumped near Itachi, already forming seals. "Blue pool!" the Kiri traitor yelled. The Uchiha must have understood, because he jumped up and slightly away from his partner.

A massive amount of water burst from Kisame's mouth, creating a surging wave that stood several times taller than its caster.

The water obviously grew from itself and retained some kind of form, as the forest quickly began flooding. Readying a Rasengan, Minato decided enough was enough and teleported behind Kisame using the Hiraishin seal he had placed on Kisame with the punch.

He obliterated Kisame's head, but was only rewarded with even _more_ water.

_Water clone,_ Minato realized. Reaching out and feeling for the other Hiraishin seal (hopefully on the real Kisame this time), he found it relatively nearby. Repeating the maneuver, he ended up destroying nothing but a black-and-red cloak, finding himself completely submerged in water.

Either Kisame had known about the seal-planting and discarded the cloak after setting up the clone, or he'd discarded the cloak for some other, unrelated reason.

He was rewarded with the answer in the form of a shark-man-hybrid _thing_ swimming at him quite fast.

Minato met the sudden attack head on, allowing Kisame to grab Minato in exchange for getting a decent grip himself.

He planted the seal and then teleported them both several miles away, thankful that his split-second decision had paid off.

The water technique Kisame had used centered a large body of water around its user. With the user suddenly transported very far away, the water couldn't keep up, breaking the connection between the water and the creator and ending the technique.

There was just one slight problem, though.

Minato was shocked to find that he was almost out of chakra, despite the maneuver itself not being intensive. Had Kisame mastered a powerful chakra absorption technique? He knew about Samehada's chakra-stealing ability, but the sword hadn't been in sight. He tried to get up from his face-down position inside of the underground bunker, but even that was a struggle. Just as he tried to look up, Kisame slammed a hard kick into his side. Now feeling utterly exhausted, Minato took consolation in the fact that at least he could now see his enemy.

"Heh," Kisame scoffed, looking down at his opponent. "Compared to you, that Kyuubi brat is going to be pretty easy."

Anger that Minato had suppressed before began to surge back with a vengeance. Images of his family's suffering emerged in his mind's eye. Kushina dying, having had the most powerful of monsters forcibly ripped out of her body. Naruto's lonely childhood as the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki. Madara ordering him to choose between his newborn baby and his wife.

"Nothing personal," Kisame continued, "but you're in the way between me and my objective."

He had had _enough_ of people threatening his family. Now that they were finally together, he would _destroy_ those who would seek to break them apart. He was literally seeing red, feeling a new, potent energy rush through his veins. It was like a euphoric high was feeding his fury. Delicious, energizing _rage_ was bubbling from his skin. He didn't remember getting to his feet in an instant or wrapping his hand around the hybrid's neck. The power was flowing through him faster than it was being drained away by the shark's strange ability, but the only thought that clearly registered to him was _KILL._ Raw, volatile chakra powered his adrenaline-fueled muscles.

Minato didn't even think about Kisame's shocked expression as he ripped out the blue man's throat, following it up with a large, red Rasengan to the face.

The shower of blood and gore was like music to his ears. As a weird, spiked, tubular _thing_ started emerging out of the corpse, Minato formed a larger Rasengan than he had ever made in battle and smashed it down, making a bloody crater in the stone floor.

As quiet settled, the satisfaction began to wane. His rage subsided, and the red tint that covered everything faded.

Looking back on it, Minato knew exactly what had happened, but was still so shocked that he had to physically confirm it.

Unzipping his flak jacket, he reached down and pulled his shirt up to reveal a familiar black seal.

_Oh. Fuck._

He had forgot, in all that had happened, about the fact that he had technically sealed the Kyuubi's Yin chakra within himself. The plan was that the chakra would be sealed away with his death-by-Shinigami, but since he was now back amongst the living...

_Of course..._

His first thought about it was that the power would be immensely useful. Then the irony hit him: he and Naruto were Kyuubi jinchuuriki, while Kushina was not.

He laughed at the realization, feeling the tension of the past couple days leave his body. It was also so _insane_, so _unreal_ that he doubled over, unable to stop the laughter. It was so unlike him, but it was a comforting kind of insanity.

A minute later, he finally calmed down, wiping the tears from his eyes. It was the most bizarre catharsis he had ever heard of, but he would take what he could get.

* * *

Shino had noticed how Sasuke seethed with anger ever since things had calmed down. Even after a medic-nin had come by and healed his arm, the scowl never left his face. Normally, Shino wouldn't have interjected himself into such intense emotion, but Sasuke was his comrade.

The meaning of that word had only recently become truly understood. "Why are you angry?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Sasuke glared at him with a look that gave him pause. He'd heard the cliche "if glares could kill," but now he actually realized why it existed in the first place. "You are upset about the difference in power between you two," Shino observed. "How do I know this? It is the most logical conclusion."

The Uchiha didn't say anything, but his features softened slightly. "You are mistaken," Shino stated, earning a shocked expression as reply. "Itachi, as an individual, is far stronger than you at the moment. But your power is not just the chakra in your body, or the intelligence in your mind. It is the bonds you share, and the loyalties you inspire. Itachi stands alone, powerful. You stand with all of Konoha, the might of thousands all seeking to bring Itachi to justice."

Seeing no change in Sasuke's features, Shino continued. "Because you maintain strong bonds with those around you, their strength is also yours. How do I know this? Because that is the logic of a team. We are stronger as a whole than the raw sum of our power individually."

"Very well put, Shino," Kurenai-sensei commented, smiling. "Itachi is the enemy of all of Konoha, and we will all work together to bring him down."

"Yeah," Sakura added, drawing their attention. "You're not going to do this by yourself, Sasuke-kun." Feeling rather brave, Sakura placed a reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder. To her surprise, he didn't shrug it off or even look uncomfortable about it.

He looked at her, jaw slack and eyes _open_ in a way that she had never seen before. She smiled at him, hoping that she could convey what she was feeling. Sakura wouldn't let him face something like that alone, even if it killed her.

The realization almost scared her, but she didn't care. Sasuke-kun was worth it, both as a teammate and a person. They were a team, along with Kakashi-sensei and Naruto.

"...thank you."

His smile was feint, but so genuine that shivers ran down her spine. He didn't meet anyone's eyes; he was more visually focused on the ground. But she could tell that he understood, and that made her spirits soar higher than they had in a long time.

* * *

A/N: Well, yes, I actually did that.

Did Kisame get to go all out? No. But I'm not sticking to typical shonen formula for abilities. It's a fight to the death where bigger is often not better, and sometimes random circumstances can render a powerful ability moot. In this case, it was a sudden surge of volatile chakra that was being replenished faster than it was being drained for the brief window Minato needed.

I also understand that VIDD's capabilities seem overpowered. However, considering what kind of threats shinobi villages face, NOT having that kind of security would be extremely risky. It also adds the kind of defense that Konoha would need for Tobi to not bring the village to its knees within a couple days.

Itachi is powerful, but he is slower than Minato, and you should NEVER underestimate the utility of Hiraishin. Itachi was significantly wounded, but definitely not beaten. If you didn't get it, he obviously escaped. As for why Itachi and Kisame didn't see Minato coming: Minato can use the forest for cover, is EXTREMELY fast, and can teleport silently. Wind in Itachi's ears drown out subtle sounds, so they couldn't hear it coming, either.

The change about the shadow clone mechanics was something I felt necessary; Naruto was stated to have something like four times as much chakra as Kakashi in part 2. Considering his ability to spam clones over and over and not rely on Kyuubi chakra, something doesn't add up. Part 1 Naruto throwing away two dozen clones as an OPENING ATTACK wouldn't make sense if it was all completely evenly divided, either. Naruto also drawing on a TON of chakra during the Gaara fight (just before massive ass-kicking) follows my theory as well.

**Please review! It motivates me to write and gives me inspiration! I love hearing from you guys :)**

Some questions if you want to answer them:

1) Was the fight, and the circumstances surrounding it, believable?

2) How was the Kushina/Naruto interaction?

3) How was the whole scene with Sasuke?

4) Did VIDD bother you in any way?

5) Favorite part(s)?

6) Least favorite part(s)?

7) Things you'd like to see, or other constructive criticism?

Thank you so much!


	8. The Calm After the Storm

A/N: It's weird how watching recent filler episodes of the anime has given me some inspiration. Honestly, a lot of the minor characters in Naruto have so much potential (both power-wise and storytelling-wise) that I have to remind myself exactly who are the focus of this story =P

I know I have to go back and change some minor things; I've just been lazy and been going through a lot in my life recently. As for this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it; it was pretty hard to write...I was rarely both in the mood and able to think of what to write.

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Calm after the Storm**

Ten minutes after Minato reported back to Hiruzen (and VIDD, consequently), the village was taken off high alert. To Minato's dismay, Itachi had evaded patrols and hunter-nins, though Hiruzen put it differently.

"You managed to kill one of the most dangerous missing-nins we know of, in a situation in which we were lucky to have caught up to them at all. And, partly thanks to you, no one on our side was killed."

It helped, but Minato wasn't satisfied with that. "They're after my _son_, Hiruzen." His voice was as hard as his expression, with the blue of his eyes resembling ice rather than the sky. "And I know that Madara Uchiha is the one behind them all."

Hiruzen had heard Minato's version of events that fateful October night, but had been slightly hesitant to identify the mysterious nin as Madara. "Or, he is at least influencing them," he added. He sighed, resting his weary body into the chair of his office. "You can't live in constant paranoia, Minato. It will weaken you and cause mistakes. Besides, we've made Konoha impenetrable against space-time techniques ever since that night."

_Except mine,_ the blonde noted. _Only because I was specifically keyed into the village defense system,_ he added for self-reassurance. "I know," Minato said, sagging his shoulders and head as he closed his eyes, breathing out some of the built-up stress. "But does that mean Naruto can't leave the village until Madara is dead?"

Hiruzen chewed on his unlit pipe, mulling the possibility over. Biwako had yelled at him so sternly every time he smoked inside, her scorn kept him in line from beyond the grave...

"We need to make eliminating him a priority," the aging Hokage decided. "However we do it, everyone is better off if we succeed sooner rather than later. The issue is finding him, and preventing him from escaping once found."

"I think I may have an answer for that," Minato replied, suddenly energetic. "If I found a way to create an area where space-time jutsu of any kind can't work, then I just have to make sure he's in that area when I move in for the kill..."

Hiruzen recognized that absent, far-off expression on his successor's face. Minato was working through the options, but it was clear that he wasn't considering the most obvious one. "We could use Naruto as bait," Hiruzen suggested.

"_No._"

Minato was _furious_ at the very thought of it, and the Third recognized the withering glare that rarely appeared on the Fourth's face. It was exactly what he'd expected.

"It's risky, I know. But it's a reliable way to make him appear where you want him to. Assuming your trap works as planned, Madara would have to defeat everyone guarding Naruto to get a shot at him. The more likely scenario is Madara trying to flee once the trap is sprung...in which case, Naruto is still not in danger."

The slight easing of tension on Minato's face along with the softer tone relaxed Hiruzen. The logic had gotten through, at least somewhat. "_If_ it works. I have no idea what that technique is, nor do I have a way of testing it before putting my son on the line."

"Either way," Hiruzen conceded, knowing he had made as much progress as he was going to at the moment, "we'll need to develop that trap technique to take him down. In the meantime, Naruto will stay in the village, under ANBU protection."

Minato accepted that with relief. So long as they stayed in Konoha, Naruto would be completely safe from Madara. _Speaking of which..._ "Wait. Itachi said that we should already have known about their organization. What did he mean by that?"

"Ah," the elderly kage said, leaning back in his chair. "Jiraiya passed on some very interesting information recently. Itachi's organization is called 'Akatsuki'. Obviously, any organization that has a name meaning 'dawn' certainly has ambitious goals. And they don't disappoint: they're after the bijuu. _All_ of them."

Hearing the name of Naruto's absentee godfather muddled Minato's thoughts. At the moment, Akatsuki and its goals were a distant concern. "Jiraiya..."

Hiruzen recognized the look on his face. "You're wondering where he's been all these years." It wasn't a question, and the confirmation was written all over Minato's features. "He's been trying to keep Naruto and Konoha safe. Assassination and kidnapping attempts were stopped before they went anywhere. Kumo's been much more protective of its jinchuuriki, thanks to Jiraiya's warning. In fact, Jiraiya's done quite a lot to keep things peaceful between the nations."

As much as Hiruzen could tell those accomplishments meant to Minato, they still danced around the real issue. He bowed his head, acknowledging their shortcomings. _All_ of their shortcomings. "He was beside himself after...that night. He was in no condition to look after Naruto, and later on, he felt he could do more for Naruto by ensuring that he would never have a war hanging over his head than by living with him. I imagine that, after a time, his guilt and hesitance to suddenly become a figure in Naurto's life compounded until it was an impossibility."

Silence reigned following that. After what seemed to be far too long, it was broken by another sigh. "All right. Where are we going to stay until we get things sorted out?"

Hiruzen understood. Minato had intellectually accepted it, but it would take time for him to emotionally come to terms with. In the meantime... "I have an idea..."

* * *

"Here we are," Kushina announced, as much to herself as to her family. The Hokage Manor was Hiruzen's residence through and through; she and Minato hadn't ever lived there.

She had always felt it was too large for a true home, and Minato had agreed. But with the three of them and Hiruzen as residents, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

Naruto was quite familiar with the place, and since they needed somewhere to stay for the time being, it was the best fit. With ANBU guarding it around the clock, it was also one of the more secure places in the village.

_Unless you're Naruto,_ she added with a mental snicker. Those ANBU probably thought it was just another one of Naruto's pranks that night he snuck in and took the Forbidden Scroll; since he and Hiruzen had a distant grandfather-grandson relationship, they probably just let him waltz right in.

Naruto walked in with a smile, still uncharacteristically subdued. He was more expressive now than before, but it was obvious the kid still needed time to adjust. Kushina hoped a familiar setting would help things along.

From seeing his memories, Kushina knew this place fascinated Naruto, with its various shinobi artifacts, paintings of famous battles, and seals that were often works-in-progress. The warm, wooden feel of the building was soft and inviting; the only thing it really lacked was people.

Well, that wasn't the case now. "Hasn't changed all that much," Minato commented. His attention was only briefly on his surroundings; Naruto was far more important.

"We're really staying here?" the boy asked, enthusiasm present in his voice in a small-but-comforting degree.

It was a slightly childish thing to ask (at least in the way he asked it, Minato mentally clarified), but he found it comforting. It was still so hard to equate his tiny infant son with this hyperactive pre-teen, but he was trying. "Yeah. We're going to sleep in the same room, at least for a little while. Is that okay, Naruto?"

His son looked up at him with a childish openness in his features. Hesitance, and...longing, perhaps? Minato couldn't tell what the boy was thinking, but he took the small, slow nod as an answer.

Acting on a subconscious urge, he knelt down to Naruto's level, softly placing his hand on his son's spiky blonde hair. Behind Minato's genuine smile, he had to fight back tears of guilt. Naruto wasn't just at a loss for how to respond to his parents, he was at a loss for how to respond to this level of affection.

The way Naruto acted in public, you wouldn't realize how much he was hurting on the inside. You wouldn't understand why the attention-seeking loudmouth couldn't intuitively comprehend love.

Minato was thankful he knew exactly what was behind that mask, now. He deserved to know, almost like it was his punishment for his choices. To watch his son's suffering and be helpless to stop it.

_Until now_, he reluctantly admitted. "You don't have to hide anything from us," he said, his voice unsteady. "We love you no matter what. We will _always_ love you, and we always have. You're not going to be alone ever again." Naruto's expression hardly changed, but somehow Minato could see _something_ moving behind his eyes.

It was Naruto who initiated the hug this time. _So much for holding back the tears,_ his snarky side mentally blurted. Neither of them were trying that anymore, he realized. This embrace wasn't like the one in the hospital. It was more familiar. Warmer, if he had to put a word to it. Last time it had been between two strangers that were _supposed_ to have a deep connection.

This time, they _did_. Something felt different, like he wasn't looking at his son through a plane of glass anymore.

When Naruto started sobbing, Minato was momentarily surprised—Naruto was someone who rarely let his emotional guard down in front of others. It was almost unnerving—he had no idea how to be a father, let alone a father of an emotionally-distressed, pre-teen jinchuuriki. He tightened his arms around his son, hoping his reassurance would somehow get through to him.

Kushina smiled wanly at the two, intent on letting the two have their moment (she had, after all, had one of her own already). Naruto was small for his age, but he was still far larger than the infant she had once held. As much as she was convinced she just needed time to adjust, she instinctually felt like something was missing from her arms.

She doubted he'd let her hold him in that way..._ever_, but she doubted that Naruto would refuse a hug any time soon. _I have that, at least._

But as she looked at her two favorite people, she felt a lot more grateful for what she had than what she didn't. For a time in her life, she thought she'd never have a family of her own.

Her smile grew slightly, and she finally responded to the urge to join in when Naruto stopped crying.

They didn't need to speak; their touch conveyed more than any words she could think of at the moment. Besides, words weren't something Naruto understood nearly as well as actions...kind of like herself, she had to admit. "Come on, you two. Let's find a comfortable place to sit."

"Heh," Naruto said, smiling as he made a vain effort at clearing his face of the obvious tear tracts.

It was some kind of turning point in their relationship, she thought. Kushina couldn't really identify what changed specifically, but they headed to a room down the hall without the heavy awkwardness from before.

It made each of them rather giddy.

* * *

"You know, I took the Chunin Exams when I was 13," Kushina remarked as she lay on the large bed, heads interwoven under her head. "I didn't really think I was ready, but since my rival was participating, I couldn't back down 'ttebane."

Minato snorted, knowing just how characteristic of an action that was for Kushina. And Naruto, he added, who was situated in between the two parents in a similar position.

"Who was your rival?" Naruto asked. "Was it...dad?"

Kushina could tell that the hesitation was about saying the word rather than finding it, but she had adapted to not letting it get to her too deeply. "Yeah, actually." She turned her head to smile at her husband, sharing their joke. "Not that he would have admitted it, though." She used to hate how he was so good at shinobi skills even when he acted like such a goody-two-shoes.

"Well, you _did_ just keep the whole one-sided rivalry a complete secret for years..."

"It was _not_ one-sided!" Even after the kidnapping incident (and her subsequent growing affection for Minato), she still kept up her half-hearted rivalry for the challenge.

"What makes you think I reciprocated if I didn't even know about it?"

"Rivalries are inherently understood 'ttebane!"

"Says who?"

"It's a well-known fact dattebane!"

"According to you."

"According to everyone!"

"Uh huh."

She settled for mock-glaring at him, but his smug smile didn't even flinch. Naruto just shifted his gaze back and forth confusedly. Her glare dissolved into a smile, and his smugness shifted into affection.

Not that they'd do the usual with Naruto in the room, though.

"You say dattebane a lot?"

Minato snickered at Kushina's visible embarrassment. "I, uh, hoped you wouldn't inherit that particular trait of mine dattebane," Kushina admitted.

"Ha! You said it again dattebayo!" Naruto, surprised and elated that he had something in common with his mother, couldn't help but laugh as Kushina's face turned a shade of red.

* * *

"Why – are – we – running – so – much?" Sakura heaved, perplexed at her sensei's behavior. He was a lot less..._lackadaisical_ lately.

"You remember what I said about growing your chakra pool?" Kakashi asked, not even slightly winded.

Sakura mentally groaned. Of _course_ she remembered...but now that she thought about it, she understood; they were building their physical energy, which was one of two 'ingredients' of chakra. She also guessed why they were focusing on that aspect instead of spiritual/mental energy: she and Sasuke had low physical endurance, but sharp minds. Naruto was mostly the opposite.

_Mostly_, because he did display some utterly brilliant tactics and insights occasionally.

Sasuke didn't complain or question Kakashi's directive to follow him—_without_ the use of chakra—once, though he didn't last that much longer than Sakura, physically. At that point, they were glad to have done it, even if it was painfully exhausting.

But when Kakashi told them that they were only getting started for a daily routine, Sakura voiced exactly what her less talkative teammate was thinking: "_Fuck_."

* * *

As Minato knew from experience, the serene, grassy yard behind the manor was perfect for a little sparring.

There was something about good training that made Naruto happy without fail. Minato, recalling the memories of his seal-imprint, guessed that training meant acceptance, acknowledgement, progression, and motivation to Naruto.

Kushina understood that, beyond those reasons, Naruto just loved the physical and mental challenge.

Minato knew that if he wanted to improve the area in which Naruto had the most trouble, he would have given the boy appropriately-difficult puzzles to solve. But since this was more about bonding (and since Naruto really bonded with the people he fought, sparring or otherwise), they stuck to taijutsu drills.

However, they encouraged him to use his shadow clones in conjunction with it, for several reasons. He'd gain more experience via the dispelled clones, he would eventually develop a unique clone-based fighting style that even a jounin would have trouble against, and so that both Kushina and Minato could participate at the same time.

The _popping_ sound of dispelling shadow clones became music to their ears, as did the quieter and subtler sound of shadow clones forming.

Naruto's taijutsu was rough and undisciplined, like a brawler, but he was also unpredictable. Most of his unexpected moves weren't good, though, which was the main reason why fighting styles existed in the first place: moves were logical and effective, even when they were hard to see coming.

Naruto needed an established taijutsu style, Kushina decided, even if he chose to adopt a different one later on. It would at least give him an effective baseline for fighting without clones—which he sorely needed.

His skill with shadow clones covered up some of his taijutsu weaknesses, though; he was _very_ good at capitalizing on the advantage of numbers, at least for someone his age. Attacks came from many directions in many ways. Having employed a somewhat similar style since becoming proficient with shadow clones herself, she knew that the difficulty in opposing it lied in not getting overwhelmed by the multitude of attacks.

And if you had to use ninjutsu to defend yourself, make sure the cost of doing so is less than the opponent's cost of using the shadow clones. Given her enormous chakra reserves, she _loved_ this kind of style. She even thought she could beat Minato with it, back when she turned 14.

Minato being Minato, he figured out its workings after a mere three waves of it, the bastard. At least she had defeated him the first three times.

"You're off-balance when you recover from most of your attacks," Minato advised after a few minutes. "That's because you don't connect your actions. You are unpredictable, but half of that is because you move worse than you could in those situations."

Naruto crossed his arms, giving an annoyed, impatient sigh. "But, but the style I learned in the Academy didn't work for me at all! And I beat Neji and Gaara with taijutsu!"

Minato winced as he recalled _why_ that was the case. "The Academy style didn't work for you because...it was...taught _improperly_." _Sabotaged_ was the word he wanted to use, but getting into all of that right now wouldn't help anyone. "And you beat Neji and Gaara mostly with ninjutsu, not taijutsu. After all, when you sent a dozen clones at Neji, he defeated them with ease, didn't he?"

"Hmmph." Naruto didn't want to recall that particular part of the fight, but he grudgingly admitted his father's point.

"I know you have quite a talent for ninjutsu," Minato conceded, causing the boy to perk up in an instant 180 from his previous appearance. "But, improving your taijutsu will not only increase your chakra reserves, it will make you a much stronger shinobi."

Minato was rather perplexed at how Naruto found the idea of increasing his already-incredible chakra reserves so desirable, but he let the matter drop. "I'm going to teach you Konoha's Strong Fist style to take advantage of your stamina and strength. From there, you can change it up to something you like. Okay?"

"YEAH!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air to indicate just how impossibly enthusiastic he was about training.

Kushina had an idea, though... "Naruto, make a shadow clone and have him follow me, okay?"

"Eh? Okay!" Naruto obviously didn't care for deep thinking when he didn't have to, and given how casual he was with using shadow clones, it was probably like asking him to pass the salt.

As Minato began teaching the basic stances (something that Naruto only managed to stay patient through because of who was teaching him), she pulled a scroll out of her pocket once they were far enough away. "This scroll was written by Hiruzen-sama, and it's locked with a seal. See?"

Naruto moved closer, looking at the seal with mild interest. That stuff went over his head; it even _looked_ complicated. "What's inside it?"

She smiled, knowing the reaction that was about to come. "Instructions on how to do the Shadow Clone Shuriken jutsu."

Naruto lit up like a firework; Kushina was surprised he was only standing on the tips of his toes instead of jumping. "Well open it, open it!"

"I can't," she said, holding back giggles at his animated distress.

"But—but why? That's—!"

"But you can." She cut his protest off unexpectedly; now he was caught somewhere between confusion and hope.

"Eh? How?"

"Hiruzen-sama wrote this scroll specifically for you," she explained. "He locked it with a seal that requires your blood to open, so that no one else could steal it and learn the secrets of the technique."

Naruto understood, but he didn't care nearly as much about that part. With practiced precision, he bit into his thumb to draw a small amount of blood. Applying it to the seal, he was rewarded with a bluish glow before the seal changed.

"There we go." She opened the scroll, laying it out in front of them both. The instructions were written in detail at first, then simplified and broken down. _He obviously understands Naruto's learning style..._

As she waited for Naruto to catch up, she subtly looked at her son. His adorable expression, cute mannerisms, both Minato's hair and eyes—she felt extremely blessed to be with him right now, even if she had missed the first twelve years of his life. Her love for him began since before he was even a bulge in her womb, and it had only since grown.

"Hmmm...I think I get it," Naruto announced, standing up and drawing a shuriken from his holster. The first step was to channel his chakra into the shuriken itself. He took two of the ends into his hands, concentrated on his target, and...

Nothing happened.

Not deterred in the slightest, he tried again. And again. Several tries later, he settled for pushing as much chakra as he could out his fingertips and was rewarded with a visible aura of blue chakra around his hands.

But it wasn't flowing into the actual shuriken, to his frustration.

"You have to control its flow after it leaves your body," Kushina suggested.

He turned around to look at his mother, who was smiling at him. Embarrassed by such unabashed affection, he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension. "Uhh...how?"

"Just like with your shadow clone jutsu," Kushina offered.

_Oh._ He never really thought of it that way, but now that he did... He pushed chakra out of his hands again, but this time he pictured what he wanted his chakra to do and willed it into the shuriken. With great concentration, he managed to direct its flow into the weapon. "Yes!" he yelled, jumping in the air with his fists raised.

She wondered how he never realized how similar his enthusiasm for training was to Rock Lee's...

After that, he had to make shadow clones of the shuriken from the chakra the shuriken contained. As explained in the scroll, the more chakra imbued into the shuriken, the more shadow clones of it one could form.

Naruto's chakra control was far from excellent, but techniques where the amount of chakra used was mostly irrelevant were ideal for him. And with his extensive experience with shadow clones...

A hundred shuriken lay at Naruto's feet, cloned from the original they laid next to. His celebration with less enthusiastic this time only because he wanted to test out the technique in full, right away.

Three tries later, most of the hundred shuriken stuck into the wooden fence bordering the yard. He was literally jumping with joy; Kushina didn't bother to stifle her giggle at his antics. He was so adorable...

When he finally calmed down, she told him to practice it a few more times to make sure he had it down. Thankfully, the cloned shuriken dispelled a short time after impact, allowing the incoming ones to strike their targets with ease. She was rather impressed at how quickly he learned the technique, though she mused that Hiruzen had likely selected the technique based on how well-suited Naruto was for it.

Naruto turned to smile at his mom, hands interlocked behind his head. She etched his satisfied grin into her mind and then told the clone to dissipate. "Huh?" he replied, suddenly confused. "But don't I have to teach it to the real me?"

Now _she_ was confused. Had he really not understood that the experiences (and exhaustion) of shadow clones transferred to the original when dispelled? Recalling how he learned the technique, she supposed it might have been plausible... "What you experience will be transferred to the original when you dissipate."

"Transfered?" he asked, forgetting the meaning of that word. Iruka-sensei had said it in class a few times, now that he thought about it...

"Moved to," she answered. "Now, time to dispel."

"Yup!" Naruto whipped his hand up in mock salute before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kushina enjoyed a moment of satisfaction before something else grabbed her attention.

"Gah!"

She looked across the yard to see Naruto flat on his face. Minato looked at his son perplexedly, then at her. Suddenly understanding, Minato chuckled at her timing.

Kushina was caught between the urge to playfully hit him and to feel embarrassed for making Naruto trip.

* * *

A/N: I know I've been avoiding Naruto's perspective for a while. While part of that is simply the need to focus on Minato and Kushina, the other part is that I don't think I can really do his perspective justice during that time period. Chalk it up to my shortcomings as a writer.

Hiruzen gave Naruto that scroll as part of his recognition for Naruto's actions during the Chunin Exams and invasion. I might mention this in the story, too, but the reason Minato doesn't use it all the time is because his special kunai are complex, individually created devices-using the technique would require far more chakra for far less shadow clones of the kunai. And until recently, his chakra reserves weren't exceptionally high.

And yes, Naruto using this technique in conjunction with a dozen clones will mean unfathomable weapon spam. I wonder why no one ever taught this technique to Naruto...THINK OF THE POTENTIAL! :D

Not that it will make Tenten's abilities irrelevant...wait and see.

I also wonder how muscular 12-year-old Naruto is; obviously, he's not going to have much before even entering puberty, but for his age? He's gotta be above average, given how we are literally treated to flashbacks of him working out and doing pushups by himself in his Academy days.

Whoops, forgot to mention: The half-hearted rivalry between Minato and Kushina; don't take that too seriously. It was one-sided and nothing like Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry in Part 1. Also, creative freedom. Please.

Now, some questions for those who want to answer them:

1) How was the Uzumaki-family interaction (before the training), and how was it during the training?

2) How was the Team 7 scene?

3) Favorite part(s)?

4) Criticism?

**Please review! Sharing this experience with you guys is my biggest motivation for writing it! And it saves kittens. Can't forget the kittens.**


	9. Bugging a Dragon

**A/N:** I know it's been a long time. Basically, on top of a period where I just wasn't able to write much at all, I've been in an emotional slump of sorts all this time, too. The problem is that, unlike my other currently-ongoing story, First Contact, this story is "inspired"/fueled by emotion, especially with regards to relationships (not romantic, to clarify) and interpersonal connection. The other story is fueled by philosophical and intellectually based emotion and intrigue, which I've been feeling in abundance for the past couple months. Thus, even when I've been in the mood to write, I've just been unable to do this story justice and write what this story is really about.

So that's the bad news. Until I get out of this slump, I just can't really write this story at all. But the good news is that I'm trying to get out of that slump, and I'm too attached to this story to let it die without a fight. Also, I do have this tidbit from before I fell into the slump, to hopefully this will hold you over somewhat until then.

Obviously, I'm still very interested in feedback and constructive criticism. Ideas are very welcome (though please leave anything about pairings out of it; the only way "pairings" will factor into this story is platonically).

Lastly, this story (and, well, my writing in general) hasn't been up to the standards I set for myself, but a significant portion of that failure is tied to this slump (both the major, immediate one, and the lesser, long-term one). Thus, I'd like to at least give you guys something to read until it's resolved. Without further ado, enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 9: Bugging a Dragon**

* * *

Kushina had recently (at least in her mind) told her husband that the thought of surviving to be with her new family would have made her "so happy."

She felt embarrassed, now, for putting it in such simplistic and inadequate terms.

She'd never felt this content—though Kushina certainly had plenty to be upset about, those things paled in comparison to this "Uzumaki sandwich", as she called it.

It was too profound a name for Minato to comprehend, obviously. She told him as much when he laughed at it.

Naruto slept soundly between them in the bed, looking utterly adorable in a way Minato couldn't pull off even on the best of days.

They'd been awake for at least an hour, quietly admiring their son and enjoying their time together.

"He's such a heavy sleeper," she whispered, lightly brushing the back of her hand over Naruto's cheek.

"Yeah, I wonder where he gets _that_ from," Minato whispered back, pointedly ignoring her glare with averted eyes and a knowing smirk.

She seemed to have jinxed it somehow, because Naruto slowly awakened. She and Minato smiled at him, anticipating the moment when their son became aware of his surroundings.

They weren't sure how he would react—he'd been far more subdued than normal ever since they'd reunited—but when Naruto started tearing up, _they_ reacted instantly. Embraced by them both, Naruto sobbed lightly, overcome by the emotion of a lifelong fantasy becoming reality.

"Good morning, Naru-chan," Kushina said, using the pet-name she'd thought of before he'd been born, for the first time.

She didn't know exactly how it came to her, but she suddenly understood the reason behind Naruto's recent odd behavior: the constantly energetic and confident attitude he normally projected was something Naruto forced, to hide his _many_ insecurities. Though he was undoubtedly a very active person with a short attention span, he When put in a situation where he either didn't want to or was incapable of forcing it, his less-than-enthusiastic side began to show.

They were going to do something about that, in more ways than one.

"Why don't we go get some breakfast, Naru-chan?" she softly suggested after a while. It was time to truly start the day. While she and Minato both acknowledged that there were very important things to discuss, they decided to put that off for a little while, for Naruto's sake as much as theirs.

* * *

Sakura could have recited the Academy rule against showing genuine shock to one's opponent verbatim, but it was far easier said than done.

Kakashi-sensei had a knack for setting up extremely predictable patterns that he would later completely shake up without any warning whatsoever. But what truly frustrated her was that Kakashi-sensei didn't do that to teach lessons or set examples—he did it because he would randomly come to some realization out of nowhere and act very differently the next day.

"We're going to _what_?" she asked, half-wishing she had actually misheard him.

Kakashi's dull stare matched his blank face perfectly. "Spar. Against Team 8, sans Hinata, because she is still recovering."

_And his blank voice, too_, she mentally added. Then the true implications of the situation hit her, and she started to feel _very_ nervous.

Sasuke-kun was good—great, even, but it didn't matter if Sasuke won the fight singlehandedly. Her status as the obvious liability would be clear to everyone present. She was _always_ a liability. Every battle, she was the one who stood out of the way so Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, or even _Naruto_ saved the day. Because she was _weak_. Because the best she could hope for was effectively not being there in the first place.

A small part of her protested against her depressed resignation, and images of her fights against Ino and that Oto genin team flashed through her mind's eye.

"Remember," Kurenai-sensei instructed, "you're trying to avoid serious injuries. These fights are not about proving strength or skill," she said, pointedly looking at Kiba and Sasuke in turn. "In the end, you are comrades. Never forget that."

It only eased her mind slightly, but it was just enough to lift the depressive haze from her mind. She might embarrass herself, but at least this wouldn't be a serious competition with pride on the line.

"Positions," Kakashi-sensei called out.

She automatically dropped into the basic Academy fighting stance, wracking her mind for some kind of strategy. With half of her inner voice devoted to panicked swearing, it was a bit more difficult than usual.

"Begin."

Kiba blitzed her, probably hoping to take her out of the equation straight away. She had just enough time to realize the Inuzuka heir was coming at her to freeze.

Sasuke, having dodged Shino's shuriken, intercepted Kiba's attack, shoving him aside with his body.

Some instinctive part in her realized that distancing herself from these superior opponents was a good idea, and she chakra-jumped back. At least this way, Sasuke wouldn't have to worry about her in addition to himself.

Kiba quickly recovered in the time that Sasuke took to stumble back into balance. The two quickly engaged in a taijutsu brawl; Sasuke's skill superiority was matched by Kiba's strength, durability, and synergy with Akamaru.

It took a moment for Sakura to realize that something was definitely off. Shino casually stood to the side, hands in his pockets. Though the Aburame rarely spoke in the Academy, she knew enough that he wasn't a stickler for honor or fair fights. So why was he just standing there?

He turned his shaded gaze towards her, and she shuddered. Fear surged within her—she'd seen what Shino had casually done to that Oto genin, and with _bugs_, too.

A loud grunt drew her attention. Sasuke had actually taken a hit and withdrew slightly to recover. Slight panic flooded her mind at the sight of _Sasuke_ losing against Kiba, even if only a little.

A green blur in her peripheral vision shifted her mind back into her own predicament. Shino was taking advantage of her distraction to attack her directly. However, this time he was far and slow enough for her to react.

Maybe it was the fact that this was just a spar, or maybe it was a gesture of exasperation with herself, but she threw caution into the wind and chakra-dashed right into Shino, fist extended.

For a moment, she thought she'd done much more damage to herself than to Shino, who doubled over in pain. Her arm throbbed intensely, and she hissed in pain as it hung limply at her side. She had never broken her arm before, but she'd bet her next mission's pay that that was no longer the case.

Through the pain, she reveled in the small accomplishment. It may have hurt her more than it hurt him, but Shino's temporary incapacitation proved that she wasn't a complete deadweight.

And that's when she started to notice that something felt _off_, and it wasn't her mangled arm. At first, she couldn't even figure out what _kind_ of "off" it was, but then Sakura narrowed it down to a physical feeling, and then to a significant itchiness on her upper back.

Though she felt quite drained as it was (her crazy attack must have been the blame for that one), she used her remaining functional arm to check out the itching.

At first, the texture of the bumpy surface confused her—and the anomalies were oddly _squishy_. Then, as Shino returned to her attention, she finally made the connection.

Sakura screamed louder than she ever had before, running around in some kind of desperate panic, more psychologically disturbed than when she saw Orochimaru tear off part of his artificial face.

Her reaction was so intense that Sasuke and Kiba immediately stopped sparring. Once Sasuke caught on to Sakura's plight, he realized that he shared it.

To his credit, he only yelped a little at the realization before slipping his stoic mask right back on. The bugs were right in the area of the back that his arms couldn't effectively reach, but he managed to at least kill the damn things with his fingers soon enough.

Fighting his disgust and discomfort, Sasuke noticed Kakashi and Kurenai snickering. Shame and anger simultaneously flooded his mind, but strategic side quickly reasserted dominance when confronted with the question of how those bugs had gotten there in the first place.

Ten seconds later, he arrived at the only logical conclusion. Shino had covertly sent the bugs towards them through the grass well before the spar even started. The bastard.

* * *

**A/N:** I've pretty much said it all in the A/N above. Feedback and constructive criticism are appreciated, as well as all non-pairing-related ideas. Thanks :)


End file.
